The highlight of the building of any vessel was of course the launching day. Many were witnessed only by the men who had built the vessel. A launching of a large vessel, however, might attract several thousand people. Often there were picnics and banquets.
In some cases there were accidents. Occasionally the vessel stuck on the ways and people were injured. Some mishaps were rather bizarre, especially if the vessel got away and fetched up in the mind bank on the opposite shore. This, in fact, happened quite frequently. If the tide fell, and the vessel dropped over on its side, the results could be disastrous.
This contemporary photograph shows the launching of the Skoda at Kingsport, Nova Scotia in 1893. The vessel, built by Ebenezer Cox for C.R. Burgess, is a Barquentine. The fore mast is square rigged and the main and mizzen masts are fore and aft-rigged.
Under the bow can be seen the cradle on which the vessel rests. The cradle, in turn, slides on the launching ways, visible on the left.
The Skoda was sold to a merchant in Mobile, Alabama in 1912 and subsequently registered at Mobile in 1915.
