Bay Anchovy

Bay Anchovy

Anchoa mitchilli

Size: to 4"

Habitat: coastal and estuarine waters

Notes: Another small herring-like fish that forms large schools. These, as well as those above, can form huge schools that swirl around the upper reaches of inshore reefs - a sight that easily rivals the tropics. I have seen them school together with the larger and more striking Silver Anchovy. Note the large underslung mouth, which makes identification from other baitfishes easy. Anchovies are physically fragile, yet tolerate an amazing range of environmental conditions. Fishermen call them "Rainfish".

Bay Anchovy

steam-powered winch
A steam-powered winch on a schooner barge. Note the various drums for drawing up anchor chain, towing hawsers, etc, and the anchor chains themselves going down through the deck into the chain locker below.

Prior to steam power, the only force available on a sailing ship to perform all the necessary work was the men on board. For some tasks, such as raising the anchor, it might be necessary to yoke the entire crew to a multi-deck manual capstan. On the largest vessels, even with every available man, this might take several hours to complete. With the advent of steam power, a "donkey engine" and a single engineer could do the work of many men, in less time, and these were soon installed in almost all vessels.