1.
Adventures of Huckleberry Finn
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Adventures of Huckleberry Finn is a novel by Mark Twain, first published in the United Kingdom in December 1884 and in the United States in February 1885. Commonly named among the Great American Novels, the work is among the first in major American literature to be written throughout in vernacular English and it is told in the first person by Huckleberry Huck Finn, a friend of Tom Sawyer and narrator of two other Twain novels. It is a sequel to The Adventures of Tom Sawyer. The book is noted for its description of people and places along the Mississippi River. Perennially popular with readers, Adventures of Huckleberry Finn has also been the object of study by literary critics since its publication. In order of appearance, Huckleberry Finn is a boy about thirteen or fourteen or along there years old and he has been brought up by his father, the town drunk, and has a difficult time fitting into society. Widow Douglas is the woman who has taken Huck in after he helped save her from a violent home invasion. She tries her best to civilize Huck, believing it is her Christian duty, Miss Watson is the widows sister, a tough old spinster who also lives with them. She is fairly hard on Huck, causing him to resent her a good deal, Mark Twain may have drawn inspiration for this character from several people he knew in his life. Jim is Miss Watsons physically large but mild-mannered slave, Huck becomes very close to Jim when they reunite after Jim flees Miss Watsons household to seek refuge from slavery, and Huck and Jim become fellow travelers on the Mississippi River. Tom Sawyer is Hucks best friend and peer, the character of other Twain novels. He is the best fighter and the smartest kid in town, Pap Finn, Hucks father, a brutal alcoholic drifter. He resents Huck getting any kind of education and his only genuine interest in his son involves begging or extorting money to feed his alcohol addiction. The Grangerfords, an aristocratic Kentuckian family headed by the sexagenarian Colonel Saul Grangerford, Huck becomes close friends with the youngest male of the family, Buck Grangerford, who is Hucks age. By the time Huck meets them, the Grangerfords have been engaged in a blood feud with another local family. The Duke and the King are two otherwise unnamed con artists whom Huck and Jim take aboard their raft just before the start of their Arkansas adventures, doctor Robinson is the only man who recognizes that the King and Duke are phonies when they pretend to be British. He warns the town but they ignore him, mary Jane, Joanna, and Susan Wilks are the three young nieces of their wealthy guardian, Peter Wilks, who has recently died. The duke and the try to steal the inheritance left by Peter Wilks
2.
Boat
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A boat is a watercraft of a large range of sizes designed to float, plane, work or travel on water. Small boats are found on inland waterways or in protected coastal areas. However, boats such as the whaleboat were designed for operation from a ship in an offshore environment, in naval terms, a boat is a vessel small enough to be carried aboard another vessel. Another less restrictive definition is a vessel that can be lifted out of the water, some definitions do not make a distinction in size, as bulk freighters 1,000 feet long on the Great Lakes are called oreboats. For reasons of tradition, submarines are usually referred to as boats rather than ships, regardless of their size. Ships are generally distinguished from boats based on their size, shape. Boats have a variety of shapes, sizes and construction methods due to their intended purpose. Canoe-type boats have used since prehistoric times and various versions are used throughout the world for transportation. Fishing boats vary widely in style partly to local conditions. Pleasure boats include ski boats, pontoon boats, and sailboats, house boats may be used for vacationing or long-term housing. Small boats can provide transport or convey cargo to and from large ships, lifeboats have rescue and safety functions. Boats can be powered by power, wind power and motor power. Dugouts are the oldest type of boats found by archaeologists, the earliest boats are thought to have been logboats, and the oldest boats found by archaeological excavation date from around 7, 000–10,000 years ago. The oldest recovered boat in the world is the Pesse canoe and this canoe is exhibited in the Drents Museum in Assen, Netherlands. Other very old dugout boats have also been recovered, rafts have operated for at least 8,000 years. A7, 000-year-old seagoing reed boat has been found in Kuwait, boats were used between 4000 and 3000 BC in Sumer, ancient Egypt and in the Indian Ocean. Boats played an important role in the commerce between the Indus Valley Civilization and Mesopotamia, evidence of varying models of boats has also been discovered at various Indus Valley archaeological sites. Uru craft originate in Beypore, a village in south Calicut, Kerala and this type of mammoth wooden ship was constructed using teak, without any iron, and had a transport capacity of 400 tonnes
3.
Hull (watercraft)
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The hull is the watertight body of a ship or boat. Above the hull is the superstructure and/or deckhouse, where present, the line where the hull meets the water surface is called the waterline. The structure of the hull varies depending on the vessel type, the uppermost continuous deck may be called the upper deck, weather deck, spar deck, main deck, or simply deck. The particular name given depends on the type of ship or boat. In a typical wooden sailboat, the hull is constructed of wooden planking, supported by transverse frames and bulkheads, often but not always there is a centerline longitudinal member called a keel. In fiberglass or composite hulls, the structure may resemble wooden or steel vessels to some extent, in many cases, composite hulls are built by sandwiching thin fiber-reinforced skins over a lightweight but reasonably rigid core of foam, balsa wood, impregnated paper honeycomb or other material. The shape of the hull is entirely dependent upon the needs of the design, shapes range from a nearly perfect box in the case of scow barges, to a needle-sharp surface of revolution in the case of a racing multihull sailboat. Hulls come in varieties and can have composite shape, but are grouped primarily as follows. Examples are the flat-bottom, v-bottom, and multi-bottom hull and these types have at least one pronounced knuckle throughout all or most of their length. These hull shapes all have smooth curves, examples are the round bilge, semi-round bilge, and s-bottom hull. After this they can be categorized as, Displacement The hull is supported exclusively or predominantly by buoyancy, vessels that have this type of hull travel through the water at a limited rate that is defined by the waterline length. They are often, though not always, heavier than planing types, planing The planing hull form is configured to develop positive dynamic pressure so that its draft decreases with increasing speed. The dynamic lift reduces the surface and therefore also the drag. They are sometimes flat-bottomed, sometimes V-bottomed and more rarely, round-bilged, the most common form is to have at least one chine, which makes for more efficient planing and can throw spray down. Planing hulls are more efficient at speeds, although they still require more energy to achieve these speeds. An effective planing hull must be as light as possible with flat surfaces that are consistent with sea keeping. Sail boats that plane must also sail efficiently in displacement mode in light winds, semi-displacement, or semi-planing The hull form is capable of developing a moderate amount of dynamic lift, however, most of the vessels weight is still supported through buoyancy. At present, the most widely used form is the round bilge hull, in the inverted bell shape of the hull, with a smaller payload the waterline cross-section is less, hence the resistance is less and the speed is higher
4.
Wood
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Wood is a porous and fibrous structural tissue found in the stems and roots of trees, and other woody plants. It is a material, a natural composite of cellulose fibers which are strong in tension embedded in a matrix of lignin which resists compression. Wood is sometimes defined as only the secondary xylem in the stems of trees, in a living tree it performs a support function, enabling woody plants to grow large or to stand up by themselves. It also conveys water and nutrients between the leaves, other growing tissues, and the roots, Wood may also refer to other plant materials with comparable properties, and to material engineered from wood, or wood chips or fiber. In 2005, the stock of forests worldwide was about 434 billion cubic meters. As an abundant, carbon-neutral renewable resource, woody materials have been of intense interest as a source of renewable energy, in 1991 approximately 3.5 billion cubic meters of wood were harvested. Dominant uses were for furniture and building construction, a 2011 discovery in the Canadian province of New Brunswick discovered the earliest known plants to have grown wood, approximately 395 to 400 million years ago. Wood can be dated by carbon dating and in species by dendrochronology to make inferences about when a wooden object was created. People have used wood for millennia for many purposes, primarily as a fuel or as a material for making houses, tools, weapons, furniture, packaging, artworks. Constructions using wood date back ten thousand years, buildings like the European Neolithic long house were made primarily of wood. Recent use of wood has changed by the addition of steel. The year-to-year variation in tree-ring widths and isotopic abundances gives clues to the climate at that time. This process is known as growth, it is the result of cell division in the vascular cambium, a lateral meristem. These cells then go on to form thickened secondary cell walls, composed mainly of cellulose, hemicellulose, if the distinctiveness between seasons is annual, these growth rings are referred to as annual rings. Where there is little seasonal difference growth rings are likely to be indistinct or absent, if the bark of the tree has been removed in a particular area, the rings will likely be deformed as the plant overgrows the scar. It is usually lighter in color than that near the portion of the ring. The outer portion formed later in the season is known as the latewood or summerwood. However, there are differences, depending on the kind of wood
5.
Barrel
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A barrel, cask, or tun is a hollow cylindrical container, traditionally made of wooden staves bound by wooden or metal hoops. Traditionally, the barrel was a size of measure referring to a set capacity or weight of a given commodity. For example, in the UK a barrel of beer refers to a quantity of 36 imperial gallons, wine was shipped in barrels of 119 litres. Modern barrels and casks can also be made of aluminum, stainless steel, someone who makes barrels is called a barrel maker or cooper. Barrels are only one type of cooperage, other types include, but are not limited to, buckets, tubs, butter churns, hogsheads, firkins, kegs, kilderkins, tierces, rundlets, puncheons, pipes, tuns, butts, pins, and breakers. An aging barrel is used to age wine, distilled spirits such as whiskey, brandy, or rum, beer, tabasco sauce, when a wine or spirit ages in a barrel, small amounts of oxygen are introduced as the barrel lets some air in. Oxygen enters a barrel when water or alcohol is lost due to evaporation, in an environment with 100% relative humidity, very little water evaporates and so most of the loss is alcohol, a useful trick if one has a wine with very high proof. Most beverages are topped up from other barrels to prevent significant oxidation, although others such as vin jaune, beverages aged in wooden barrels take on some of the compounds in the barrel, such as vanillin and wood tannins. The presence of these depends on many factors, including the place of origin, how the staves were cut and dried. After roughly three years, most of a barrels flavor compounds have been leached out and it is well on its way to becoming neutral, barrels used for aging are typically made of French or American oak, but chestnut and redwood are also used. Some Asian beverages use Japanese cedar, which imparts an unusual, in Peru and Chile, a grape distillate named pisco is either aged in oak or in earthenware. Some wines are fermented on barrel, as opposed to in a container like steel or wine-grade HDPE tanks. Wine can also be fermented in large tanks, which—when open to the atmosphere—are called open-tops. Other wooden cooperage for storing wine or spirits range from smaller barriques to huge casks, the tastes yielded by French and American species of oak are slightly different, with French oak being subtler, while American oak gives stronger aromas. To retain the desired measure of oak influence, a winery will replace a certain percentage of its barrels every year, some winemakers use 200% new oak, where the wine is put into new oak barrels twice during the aging process. Bulk wines are more cheaply flavored by soaking oak chips in them instead of being aged in a barrel. Sherry is stored in 600-litre casks made of North American oak, the casks, or butts, are filled five-sixths full, leaving the space of two fists empty at the top to allow flor to develop on top of the wine. NOTE, This section uses both the U. S. –Irish typical spelling whiskey and the British–Canadian typical spelling whisky, laws in several jurisdictions require that whiskey be aged in wooden barrels
6.
Float (nautical)
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Floats are airtight hollow structures, similar to pressure vessels, designed to provide buoyancy in water. Their principal applications are in watercraft hulls and aircraft floats, floating pier and pontoon bridge construction, floats make up the multipart hulls of catamarans and trimarans and provide buoyancy for floatplanes and seaplanes. They are used in bridges, floating piers, and floats anchored to the seabed for recreation or dockage. They are also used in shipbuilding and marine salvage, often deployed uninflated then pressurized to raise a sunken object, pontoons for marine industrial uses are usually fabricated from steel plate and sheet. Pontoons as parts of watercraft and aircraft are more typically molded in glass-reinforced plastic, in model building, floats can easily be carved out of solid blocks or laminated sheets of foam
7.
Phragmites
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Phragmites is a genus of four species of large perennial grasses found in wetlands throughout temperate and tropical regions of the world. The World Checklist of Selected Plant Families, maintained by Kew Garden in London, – Japan, Korea, Ryukyu Islands, Russian Far East Phragmites karka Trin. About 130 other synonyms have been proposed, and some have been widely used, arundo phragmites L. and Phragmites vulgaris Crép. Recent studies have characterised morphological distinctions between the introduced and native stands of Phragmites australis in North America, americanus – the North American genotype has been described as a distinct subspecies, subsp. Americanus, and Phragmites australis – the Eurasian genotype is sometimes referred to as subsp, altissimus Clayton is an accepted subspecies of P. australis. Phragmites australis var. marsillyanus Kerguélen is a variety of Phragmites australis. In North America, the status of Phragmites australis was a source of confusion and it was commonly considered an exotic species and often invasive species, introduced from Europe. However, there is evidence of the existence of Phragmites as a plant in North America long before European colonization of the continent. It is now known that the North American native forms of P. a. subsp, americanus are markedly less vigorous than European forms. The recent marked expansion of Phragmites in North America may be due to the more vigorous, Phragmites outcompetes native vegetation and lowers the local plant biodiversity. Phragmites forms dense thickets of vegetation that is unsuitable habitat for native fauna, Phragmites displaces native plants species such as wild rice, cattails, and native wetland orchids. Phragmites has a high ground biomass that blocks light to other plants allowing areas to turn into Phragmites monoculture very quickly. Decomposing Phragmites increases the rate of marsh accretion more rapidly than would occur with native marsh vegetation, australis is causing serious problems for many other North American hydrophyte wetland plants, including the native Phragmites australis subsp. Gallic acid released by Phragmites is degraded by ultraviolet light to produce acid, effectively hitting susceptible plants. Phragmites are so difficult to control one of the most effective methods of eradicating the plant is to burn it over 2-3 seasons. The roots grow so deep and strong that one burn is not enough, ongoing research suggests that goats could be effectively used to control the species. Phragmites australis, common reed, commonly forms extensive stands, which may be as much as 1 square kilometre or more in extent, where conditions are suitable it can also spread at 5 metres or more per year by horizontal runners, which put down roots at regular intervals. It can grow in damp ground, in standing water up to 1 metre or so deep, the erect stems grow to 2–6 metres tall, with the tallest plants growing in areas with hot summers and fertile growing conditions
8.
Pontoon (boat)
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A pontoon is a flotation device with buoyancy sufficient to float itself as well as a heavy load. A pontoon boat is a boat that relies on pontoons to float. Boats with three pontoons are sometimes called “tri-toons, better tube design has also allowed builders to put ever-increasing amounts of horsepower on the stern. Pontoons may be used on boats, rafts, barges, docks, airboats, hovercrafts, pontoons may support a platform, creating a raft. A raft supporting a house-like structure is a houseboat, a fixed platform can be used as a dock. Common boat designs are a catamaran with two pontoons, or a trimaran with three, pontoons may be simply constructed from sealed cylinders such as pipes or barrels, or fabricated as boxes from metal or concrete. Pontoon boat drafts may be as shallow as eight inches, which risk of running aground. The pontoon effect is when a force applied to the side capsizes a pontoon boat without much warning. Pontoon boats for boating and fishing can be low cost for their capacity. Small inflatable pontoon boats are one or two person, catamaran type boats, designed for leisure and fishing and their pontoons are made out of abrasion resistant PVC and nylon with aluminum, steel and/or plastic frames for support. They are powered with paddles, oars and often with electric trolling motors using deep cycle lead batteries, commonly they are equipped with motor mount, battery storage area, fishing rod holders, canopy, fishfinder mount, small anchor and other required fishing gear. Such boats are suitable for ponds, lakes, rivers and seas during calm weather, however, due to light weight, they are susceptible to waves and windy conditions. Nonetheless, such boats are used even for big game fishing. Pontoon boats are used as small ferries to cross rivers and lakes in many parts of the world. Pontoon ferries may be motorised, such as the Kazungula Ferry across the Zambezi River, or powered by another boat, or pulled by cables. A type of known as the cable ferry pull themselves across a river using a motor or human power applied to the cable. The flotation tubes of RIB are often referred to as pontoons, in Australia and New Zealand, the term pontoon often refers to an anchored raft-like platform used for diving from. Pontoons are located at many beaches and lake shores, but usually only during the summer months, the 1952 invention of the pontoon motorboat in the USA is credited to a farmer who lived on the Horseshoe Chain of Lakes, near Richmond, Minnesota
