1824 - Sailing a Pleasure Boat Out of Fells Point In 1824, a captain of a small sailing boat, called a sloop, purchased an advertisement in the Baltimore Sun. A sloop is a sailboat that has only one two masts. This sloop was powered only by the wind. In 1824, the sailboat was very well developed. People had learned to use sail power very well. In the advertisement, the captain told customers that he would provide a vessel that would take excursions of gentlemen wishing to fish to Lazaretto point and to Fort McHenry, two places in Baltimore harbor just off Fells Point. The ad told customers to inquire at the corner of Philpot and Thames streets in Fells Point. Groups of between 2 and 10 "gentlemen" went to the advertised address and asked about taking out the sloop. The captain took them on his boat as passengers. He also brought his mate and a deckhand to help sail the boat. The customers paid the captain. Each group offered the captain what they could afford to pay. Then the captain would decide whether to accept their price or not. Out of the price the gentlemen paid, the captain had to pay his crew and spend money on keeping up his boat. He also had to provision, or provide food for, his crew members. So he probably did not accept a charter for less than $25.

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