''Fox'' was a specially built

surfboat A surfboat (or surf boat) is an oar-driven boat designed to enter the ocean from the beach in heavy surf or severe waves. It is often used in lifesaving or rescue missions where the most expedient access to victims is directly from the beach. ...

to be rowed across the

Atlantic Ocean The Atlantic Ocean is the second-largest of the world's five oceans, with an area of about . It covers approximately 20% of Earth's surface and about 29% of its water surface area. It is known to separate the " Old World" of Africa, Europe ...

. ''Fox'' was custom built in 1896 by William A. Seaman at Seaman Sea Skiffs of

Branchport, New Jersey Long Branch is a beachside city in Monmouth County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. As of the 2020 United States census, the city's population was 31,667, an increase of 948 (+3.1%) from the 2010 census count of 30,719, ...

for

Frank Samuelsen and George Harbo Frank Samuelsen (26 February 1870 – 1946) and George Harbo (14 September 1864 – 1909) were Norwegian-born Americans who in 1896 became the first people ever to row across an ocean. Their time record for rowing the North Atlantic Ocean ...

Highlands, New Jersey :''See also New York–New Jersey Highlands for the northwestern part of the state.'' Highlands is a borough in Monmouth County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. As of the 2010 United States census, its population was 5,005,

. The boat was named ''Fox'' for the financial backer Richard Kyle Fox (1846-1922) owner of the "pink tabloid", '' Police Gazette''. William A. Seaman was well known for building the seaworthy ''Nauvoo'' surf boat. He built the ''Fox'' with watertight compartments and hand rails on the

keel The keel is the bottom-most longitudinal structural element on a vessel. On some sailboats, it may have a hydrodynamic and counterbalancing purpose, as well. As the laying down of the keel is the initial step in the construction of a ship, in Br ...

, for righting the boat if capsized at sea. This feature would be used at least once in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean during heavy seas. The original ''Fox'' is lost, but in 1975 a replica of the ''Fox'' was built by the Long Branch Ice Boat and Yacht Club (LBIBYC) of

New Jersey New Jersey is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern regions of the United States. It is bordered on the north and east by the state of New York; on the east, southeast, and south by the Atlantic Ocean; on the west by the Delaware ...

with the participation of Harold L. Seaman, son of the boat builder. As a youngster, Harold Seaman backed-up most of the rivets during construction of the original ''Fox''. At age 91, he provided a full set of plans reconstructed "from old photographs, shop records and memory, lines and measurements, correct within a fraction of an inch" .''Club History'' (Long Branch Ice Boat and Yacht Club)
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See also

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Further reading