This reminded me of the hulks of two Hudson River boat hulks on the shore of
the NY's Bear Mountain State Park, just below the recently opened state
historic site, Revolutionary War, Fort Montgomery, on the west shore of the
Hudson River, across from Andre's Nose and Camp Smith. Just below the west
approach to the Bear Mountain Bridge (where Fort Clinton was) were seen two
anchored sloops on the shore, in the background of an old photograph of the
"Halve Moon" as it went sailing by (1936?). Some checking by the State
Historic Preservation Office verified the location, and apparently, had
unbelievably been left there.
In the center of each, is a small forest of iron rods, simalarly used I
think as you described, but more in the keel and centerboard "box"
construction (perhaps hauling "green sand" for the West Point Foundry,
important resource of iron molding, which almost did or perhaps did run out
in Peekskill, NY) made these boats somewhere between a barge and a boat,
though they carried quite a bit of sail, sloop rigged as seen in the
photograph. Their field documentation was done for the SHPO by Grossman and
Associates and partially published in "Sea History" the quarterly of the
National Maritime Historical Association (U.S.) based in Peekskill, NY (btw
current Governor of NY was once Mayor of Peekskill). In a subsequent issue a
seaman related of a survivor of its type, in service until the early 1960's
in the Chesapeake Bay region. Goods were apparently carried from shallow
water but once in deeper water a large centerboard was lowered for steering.
The rudders too were shallow. This section of the river was once referred to
as the "Race" as a string of boats would start out on the tide and wind and
stretch out like a horse race, one unpublished research paper stated from
the Field Library in Peekskill, NY.
I had to laugh, the site is intertidal, remote by land contour and we
arrived with a hand held proton magnetometer from a successful (EPA) use on
gasholders (brick and iron) in Saratoga Springs, NY across from Red Spring,
said to be the first there.
Perhaps the long bars holding the centerboard box together and the keel were
"barge" and "boat spikes" held the straps to the wooden rudder sections for
the rudder pintles. Sections of the "ribs" in pieces and duplicate and
triplicate were also held together with iron rods. We did not remove any of
them, and they all appeared unthreaded at top perhaps the idea of "boat
pins" sounds a little silly though spike also has a different connotation.
I was given to understnd some signage was to be associated with the hulks
and part of a trail around the area. Sleeping there in a hammock on shorte
was fun awakened by a family of mute swans swimming by between the Conrail
events.
George Myers
----Original Message Follows----
From: "Daniel H. Weiskotten" <[log in to unmask]>
Reply-To: HISTORICAL ARCHAEOLOGY <[log in to unmask]>
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Re: Barge vs boat spike
Date: Sun, 15 Feb 2004 15:30:05 -0500
John:
I think that barge spikes were larger than boat spikes, but I also think
that barge spikes are the long rods that are driven down through the
planks, from plank to plank, to hold them and give them much added
strength. Holes were drilled about 6 inches apart in each plank before
installation and the planks slid down them to their position and then
spiked in place to the ribs with the shorter boat spikes.
On the abandoned sections of the Erie Canal across New York State you can
still see the hulls of 100 foot Lakers and other stout barges that were
sunk when it the old line was closed in 1917 or so. In some places the
water was kept in the canal prism after the abandonment and the wooden
hulls rotted away above the water line leaving hundreds of 5 or 6 foot long
rods sticking up above the waterline, and marking the outline of the
boat. Most of these were cut down below water many years ago for safety
purposes (and perhaps to salvage the iron). At Chittenango Landing Canal
Boat Museum on the Erie at Chittenango, NY, they excavated an abandoned
hull and you could see the cut off rods. I just can't imagine the
incredible skill and labor that went into setting those rods.
http://www.chittenangolandingcanalboatmuseum.com/more%20pics%20_of%20site.htm
You might want to contact the fine folks at CLCBM about the difference.
(Tell them Dan sent you!)
Dan W.
At 10:50 AM 2/13/2004 -0500, you wrote:
>Can someone who is into hardware make a clear distinction between a
>fastener known as a barge spike and that referred to as a boat spike?
>Thanx in advance.
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