Saturday, August 8, 2009

Felucca

Felucca: A felucca is a sail boat where the sail are supported by diagonal yard arms. On most modern sailboats, the sails are supported by masts and lines. The Mayflower-life square riggers used horizontal yard arms. The felucca is an ancient design that dates back to the Romans, and the name is latinate, sharing its etymology with triangle for the shape of the sails. Feluccas are small and maneuverable, but have been been pushed aside by motor boats. Today they mostly survive as tourist boats on the Nile. However, in the latter part of the 19th century they were the workhorse of the San Francisco fishing fleet.
San Francisco we lived in Mrs Liberty's flash-house ... looking down towards the packed wharves. There were coal carriers and fruit schooners, feluccas and Chinese crates, there was the New York liner and freight steamers from Sydney.

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