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The pungy is a type of
The pungy is a type of schooner
A schooner ( ) is a type of sailing ship, sailing vessel defined by its Rig (sailing), rig: fore-and-aft rigged on all of two or more Mast (sailing), masts and, in the case of a two-masted schooner, the foremast generally being shorter than t ...
developed in and peculiar to the Chesapeake Bay
The Chesapeake Bay ( ) is the largest estuary in the United States. The bay is located in the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic region and is primarily separated from the Atlantic Ocean by the Delmarva Peninsula, including parts of the Ea ...
region. The name is believed to derive from the Pungoteague region of Accomack County, Virginia, where the design was developed in the 1840s and 1850s.
In form, the pungy is a two-masted gaff-rigged schooner with a main topsail but no square-rigged sails (as found on the related Baltimore clipper). The masts are tall and raked, and there is a bowsprit
The bowsprit of a sailing vessel is a spar (sailing), spar extending forward from the vessel's prow. The bowsprit is typically held down by a bobstay that counteracts the forces from the forestay, forestays. The bowsprit’s purpose is to create ...
on the clipper bow. The deck is flush, with a log rail. The hull is framed and has a vee profile. One peculiar detail of the pungy is its traditional paint scheme of green and pink, the origin of which is unknown.
The pungy, like the Baltimore clipper, evolved from the pilot schooner. Its principal usage was to haul freight, particularly perishables ranging from oysters to farm produce. It was capable of ocean travel and was used, for instance, to ship pineapple
The pineapple (''Ananas comosus'') is a Tropical vegetation, tropical plant with an edible fruit; it is the most economically significant plant in the family Bromeliaceae.
The pineapple is indigenous to South America, where it has been culti ...
s to Baltimore from Bermuda
Bermuda is a British Overseas Territories, British Overseas Territory in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean. The closest land outside the territory is in the American state of North Carolina, about to the west-northwest.
Bermuda is an ...
. It was also used for a time to dredge for oyster
Oyster is the common name for a number of different families of salt-water bivalve molluscs that live in marine or brackish habitats. In some species, the valves are highly calcified, and many are somewhat irregular in shape. Many, but no ...
s, but its excessive draft
Draft, the draft, or draught may refer to:
Watercraft dimensions
* Draft (hull), the distance from waterline to keel of a vessel
* Draft (sail), degree of curvature in a sail
* Air draft, distance from waterline to the highest point on a v ...
and large crew complement led to its being replaced by the bugeye. The last pungies were built in the 1880s, and the type's use died out in the first half of the twentieth century.
A replica, the '' Lady Maryland'', was built in 1985–1986 and continues to serve as a floating classroom for The Living Classrooms Foundation.
References