A bumboat is a small boat used to

ferry A ferry is a ship, watercraft or amphibious vehicle used to carry passengers, and sometimes vehicles and cargo, across a body of water. A passenger ferry with many stops, such as in Venice, Italy, is sometimes called a water bus or water taxi ...

supplies to ships moored away from the shore. The name comes from the combination of the Dutch word for a canoe—"''boomschuit''" ("''boom''" meaning "tree"), and "boat". In Tobias Smollett's 1748 novel, ''

The Adventures of Roderick Random ''The Adventures of Roderick Random'' is a picaresque novel by Tobias Smollett, first published in 1748. It is partially based on Smollett's experience as a naval-surgeon's mate in the Royal Navy, especially during the Battle of Cartagena de Indi ...

'', a "bumboat woman" conducts business with sailors imprisoned on board a pressing

tender Tender may refer to: Entertainment Film * ''Illegal Tender'' (2007), a film directed by Franc. Reyes * ''Tender'' (2012), a short film by Liz Tomkins * ''Tender'' (2019), a short film by Darryl Jones and Anthony Lucido * ''Tender'' (2019), a sh ...

moored near the Tower Wharf on the Thames River, London, England. In '' HMS Pinafore'', W. S. Gilbert describes Little Buttercup as a Bumboat Woman. In Singapore, the term "bumboat" is applied to small water taxis and boats that take tourists on short tours.

References

External links

"The Bumboat Woman's Story"
��one of W. S. Gilbert's '' Bab Ballads'' (from th
Gilbert & Sullivan Archive

Singaporean bumboat
—photo by Rajit Vijayan Boat types {{ship-type-stub

See also

References

External links