at under all weather
conditions. This was important because oyster dredging could be carried
on in rough weather when tonging would be impractical. Like the Maryland
terrapin smack, the Carolina sharpie schooner adhered closely to New
Haven principles of design and construction. However, Carolina sharpie
schooners were larger than terrapin smacks, having an over-all length of
from 40 to 52 feet. These schooners remained in use well into the 20th
century and, in fact, did not go out of use entirely until about 1938.
In the 1920's and 1930's many such boats were converted to yachts. They
were fast under sail and very stiff, and with auxiliary engines they
were equally as fast and required a relatively small amount of power.
Large Carolina sharpie schooners often made long coasting voyages, such
as between New York and the West Indies.

[Illustration: FIGURE 18.--Deck of a North Carolina sharpie schooner
under sail showing pump box near rail and portion of afterhouse.]

Sharpies in Other Areas

The Carolina Sounds area was the last place in which the sharpie was
extensively employed. However, in 1876 the sharpie was introduced into
Florida by the late R. M. Munroe when he took to Biscayne Bay a sharpie
yacht that had been built for him by Brown of Tottenville, Staten
Island. Afterwards various types of modified sharpies were introduced in
Florida. On the Gulf Coast at Tampa two-masted sharpies and sharpie
schooners were used to carry fish to market, but they had only very
faint resemblance to the original New Haven boat.

[Illustration: FIGURE 19.--Sharpie yacht _Pelican_ built in 1885 for
Florida waters. She was a successful shoal-draft sailing cruiser. (Photo
courtesy Wirth Munroe.)]

The sharpie also appeared in the Great Lakes area, but here its
development seems to have been entirely independent of the New Haven
type. It is possible that the Great Lakes sharpie devolved from the
common flatiron skiff.

The sharpie yacht was introduced on Lake Champlain in the late 1870's by
Rev. W. H. H. Murray, who wrote for _Forest and Stream_ under the pen
name of "Adirondack Murray." The hull of the Champlain sharpie retained
most of the characteristics of the New Haven hull, but the Champlain
boats were fitted with a wide variety of rigs, some highly experimental.
A few commercial sharpies were built at Burlington, Vermont, for hauling
produce on the lake, but most of the sharpies built there were yachts.

D