The bugeye was a Chesapeake Bay oyster dredge ship with a wide, shallow draft hull, double-masted raked configuration, and a leg-of-mutton mainsail. The porthole was a definitive design for the industry, featuring a unique center plate to oyster dredge. Bugeyes had no keel, a center plank, and a low waist, making them easy to carry the dredge. The design fell out of favor with the introduction of the cheaper barrel.
A bugeye was a sailing ship originally developed as a Chesapeake Bay oyster dredge. She featured a double-masted raked configuration and typically carried a leg-of-mutton mainsail with a jib and sail. The hull was of a wide, shallow draft design with no chine. The flat-bottomed, beamed hull design saw bugeyes fitted with a center plate. Most bugeye hulls were tapered and low-waisted with a centrally located windlass to facilitate dredge handling.
Vessels in the Chesapeake oyster dredging industry went through a rather interesting evolutionary process during the 19th century and early 20th century that saw designs such as schooners, pungys, canoes, brogans, bugeyes, and skipjacks dredging the Bay. However, the porthole was the first truly definitive design that addressed all the needs of the industry specifically. Introduced in the late 1800s, it was designed from center plate to oyster dredge and showcased its purpose in its unique features. Although construction of the vessels ceased in 1918, they continued to see active use until the mid-1960s.
The original name of the vessel appears to have been “buckeye”, a reference to the two large forward anchor ports in early designs that gave her the appearance of having a pair of eyes. How and when the name changed to bugeye is uncertain, but it stayed the same. Among the most distinctive features of the porthole are the strongly raked or swept-back twin masts. The typical set of sails carried by these ships was known as a leg-of-mutton rig and featured, in early examples, a pair of triangular fore and aft mainsails with the later addition of a boom and sail.
Bugeye hulls were shallow ‘S’ profiles with no spine, or sharply defined angular planes, to suit the shallow water they worked. No keel was employed, instead being replaced with a center plank. Helmets were beamed, or broad, typically one-third as wide as they were long. This provided maximum working space for the dredges and made the ship solid and stable even at the high speeds they were capable of. Typical porthole designs were of a sharp, sterile design, although several were built with square or round sterns or were modernized with platforms over the stern to increase deck space.
Vessel hulls generally had a fairly low waist, making it easy to carry the dredge. To this end, they were often also fitted with a mid-deck windlass or capstan to assist in dredging recovery. Although the porthole was simple to operate, fast, and efficient, the design fell out of favor with the introduction of the barrel, which was cheaper and just as effective.
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