Halkett boat facts for kids
A Halkett boat is a special type of lightweight inflatable boat. It was first made by Lieutenant Peter Halkett (1820–1885) in the 1840s. Halkett was very interested in the challenges of travelling in the Canadian Arctic. He wanted to create a boat that was light enough to carry over difficult terrain. It also needed to be strong enough for very bad weather conditions.
Halkett's first design used cloth mixed with rubber. This boat could be filled with air to float on water. The air could also be let out (deflated) to make it smaller and lighter to carry. When deflated, the hull of the boat could be worn like a cloak. The oar could be used as a walking stick. The sail could even be used as an umbrella. Later, he made a two-person boat that fit into a knapsack. When deflated, it could be used as a waterproof blanket.
Many explorers in Canada liked his ideas. However, these boats were not very useful for most other people. He tried to show the Royal Navy that the boats could help them, but he did not succeed. He also could not sell them to fishermen or duck hunters. They were not successful in business. Today, only two Halkett boats are still known to exist. One belonged to explorer John Rae. The other is in the Hudson's Bay Company Museum Collection. It is kept at the Manitoba Museum.
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Peter Halkett: The Inventor
Peter Halkett was a Lieutenant in the Royal Navy in the 1840s. His father, John Halkett, was a director of the Hudson's Bay Company. His father had lived in Canada for many years. Peter Halkett was interested in exploring the Canadian Arctic for a long time. He was very interested in John Franklin's Coppermine Expedition of 1819–1822. This expedition faced many problems.
Franklin explored the northern coast of Canada for three years. He was searching for the Northwest Passage. His search ended very badly. Many members of the group were lost. 11 of the 20 members of the group died. The survivors had to eat lichen, their own boots, and what was left of dead animals by wolves. They were stuck on the wrong side of the Coppermine River. Their boats had been destroyed in a storm. John Richardson tried to swim across. This caused him to become very cold. One person built a small canoe from canvas and willow. They had to cross the river one person at a time using this canoe.
Halkett was an amateur inventor. In his spare time, while in the navy, he worked on building a boat. He wanted it to be small and light enough to carry through the wilderness. But it also needed to be strong enough to carry people safely across wide waters. He decided to build a boat where all parts could also be used as clothing or items people would normally carry.
The Clever Boat-Cloak Design
Halkett made a waterproof cloak. It was made from an early type of Macintosh cloth. This cloth was a mix of cotton and India rubber. The inside of the cloak was an airtight and watertight inflatable oval shape. It had four different airtight sections. If one section was damaged and lost air, the others would still keep the boat floating. The cloak had a pocket that held a paddle blade and a small bellows. The person wearing the cloak would carry a walking stick. This stick was also the handle for the paddle. There was also a large umbrella that could be used as a sail for the boat. The cloak weighed about 7.5 pounds (3.4 kg). It took three to four minutes to inflate the boat. Once inflated, it could carry six to eight people.
In early 1844, Halkett tested his first boat-cloak on the River Thames. He paddled it 15 kilometers (9.3 miles) without any problems. His test went very well. Because of this, he took the boat-cloak with him while on naval duty. He used it often to test it in many different sea conditions. In November 1844, Halkett wanted to test the boat-cloak in bad weather. The seas of the Bay of Biscay were usually very rough. But the weather was unusually calm when he got there. Explorers really liked the boat-cloak. John Richardson, who almost died during the 1819–1822 Coppermine expedition, wrote that if they had such a boat, they would have saved everyone.
Halkett's Boats in the Canadian Arctic
Because his boat-cloak worked so well, Halkett built a larger version. This boat could be folded into a knapsack. When inflated, it could carry two men. Each man would use a paddle on each side of the boat. When deflated, the boat could be used as a waterproof blanket. This allowed users to sleep on wet ground. The Royal Navy thought the boat might be useful for some people. But they did not think it would be useful for the Navy in general. On May 8, 1845, Lord Herbert, the First Secretary to the Admiralty, wrote to Halkett. He said that Halkett's invention was "extremely clever and ingenious." He also said it "might be useful in Exploring and Surveying Expeditions." But he did not think it would work for general naval use.
Even though the Navy did not use Halkett's boats much, explorers loved this larger boat. John Franklin bought one for his 1845 expedition. This expedition ended badly. All 129 men and their two ships were lost and never found. Franklin believed Halkett boats were very important for travel in Canada. He gave the boat meant for his expedition to Sir George Simpson. Simpson was the Governor-in-Chief of Rupert's Land. Franklin got another boat from Halkett for his last expedition.
Orkneyman John Rae was a surgeon for the Hudson's Bay Company. The Inuit called him ᐊᒡᓘᑲ (Aglooka), meaning "He who takes long strides." He became a surveyor of the Canadian Arctic. Unlike most Europeans then, Rae believed local people knew the best ways to handle the very bad weather. He traveled Inuit-style, using sledges and snowshoes. He slept in snow igloos. Rae took a Halkett boat on his first expedition in 1846. He said it was "most useful in crossing and recrossing the river at Repulse Bay." He also said that "although in constant use for upwards of six weeks on a rocky coast it never required the slightest repair." He believed it "ought to form part of the equipment of every expedition."
In 1848, the Royal Navy sent people to find out what happened to Franklin's ships and men. The search party was led by John Richardson and John Rae. They had a Halkett boat bought by the government. The party did not find Franklin. But they learned that the Halkett boat was very useful. During the search, they used the single boat to move their entire party across a river in 14 trips. Rae said that the boat's rubber became stiff from the cold. But it was easy to warm it to soften the material when needed. Halkett boats were also taken on 6 other expeditions looking for Franklin. They were used for fishing during these trips.
In 1851, French explorer Joseph René Bellot led another expedition to find Franklin. Franklin's wife paid for this trip. Bellot took a Halkett boat-cloak on the journey. He said it was "of immense value in a country where the want of wood renders it impossible to form any sort of raft." Bellot's expedition did not find Franklin. It was not until 1853 that an expedition led by Rae found out what happened. Rae used "two beautiful Halkett boats" on this trip. He found a group of Inuit who told them they saw men dragging a boat four years earlier. Their bodies were found soon after that.
Why They Didn't Sell Well
Even though the boats were great for lake-fishing and duck-shooting, they did not sell well. They were also shown at the Great Exhibition of 1851. But Halkett's boats were not widely used except by explorers in Canada. Halkett died on March 23, 1885, at age 65. After he died, the making of his boats stopped. John Rae gave his boat from the 1853 expedition to a Miss Peace of Kirkwall. Many years later, it was found. It is now in the Stromness Museum at Orkney. A second boat is in the Hudson's Bay Company Museum Collection at the Manitoba Museum.
See also
In Spanish: Bote de Halkett para niños
