Sharpies

During the nineteenth century, New Haven’s Harbor was both diversified and active. Starting at Long Wharf and moving up to Quinnipac River to Fair Haven, the port was busy with all kinds of water oriented activities, such as Oystering, fishing, and many others.

The main activity of the harbor was oystering. The boat that was used for oystering was called the sharpie. By the 1830’s, oystering was undertaken by practically everyone, which was good because their were plenty of oysters to go around. This also brought on the high demand of sharpies. By 1835 however, the natural beds were impoverished and the first cargo of imported oysters arrived in fair haven on the schooner “John.”

New Haven’s sharpie was developed in 1840 and was produced in local yards until approximately 1920. The structure of a sharpie is strong, and heavy and consists of white pine planks on an white oak framing. The sides have two or three planks of 11/4 –11/2” thickness. The interior consists of:

The chine is two four to seven inch oak planks running the length of the boat where the side planking and the bottom meet. The Sheer has two three to four inch oak planks, running along the length of the boat where the side planking and the deck meet. The side frames have oak cleats, one point five by three inches, running from the chine to the sheer at the ten to twelve points along each side of the interior of the boat.

The deck is made of white pine planks one and a quarter inches thick and seven to ten inches wide.
During the 1840’s the oysterbeds were extended out beyond the site of the present breakwaters, so there was a lot more room for boats and also more room for fish and other aquatic specimens. This is only one thing that brought along the prediction of the sharpies.

There were many different sharpie sizes: small, medium, and large. The small sharpie cost around twenty-five dollars and is twenty-five feet long. It can hold up to seventy-five bushels of oysters. The medium sharpie costs $200.00, and is twenty-six to thirty-five feet long, thus one or two masts and holds seventy-five to 175 bushels. The large sharpies cost around $300.00 to $500.00 and are thirty-five to forty-five feet long. There is no information on how many bushels it can hold. Not many large sharpies were made is New Haven.

- Bobby Braren