_Pilot Boat_--In 1661, the General Assembly passed an Act creating the office of Chief Pilot of the James River. A specific type of vessel evolved for use as pilot boats--fast, weatherly boats, somewhat on the mold of the already developing clipper schooner, about 1745. This boat soon acquired schooner rig and all the characteristics of a clipper schooner. This trim craft, distinguished for speed and sea worthiness, proved ideal for yachting. Almost all schooner yachts until about 1870, were built on the lines of pilot boats. The best known example was the victory of the yacht _America_ in 1851. _Brig_--A seagoing vessel having two masts and square rigged. _Brigantine_--A seagoing vessel having two masts, one square rigged, the other fore-and-aft. _Snow_--A seagoing vessel having two masts similar to a brig, and an additional mast abaft the mainmast which carried a spanker or driver (a gaff-headed trysail). _Ship_--A sailing vessel having three or more masts, square rigged, the largest seagoing vessel of the period. A term frequently applied to any vessel. _Bark_ or _Barque_--A sailing vessel having three or more masts, square rigged, the after mast, fore-and-aft rigged. A term frequently applied to any vessel. _Barkentine_--A sailing vessel with three or more masts, the fore mast square rigged, the other masts being fore-and-aft. _Galley_--A long, single or partially decked vessel of light draft, fitted for rowing and having one or two masts to raise for use when needed. They ranged in size from forty to seventy-five feet in length, and were used as warships by Virginia during the Revolution when they carried from one to twelve guns. The planters and shipbuilders of Virginia had a wide choice in the selection of timber for building their boats and ships: Virginia yielding to no known place in the known world for timbers of all sorts, commodious for strength, pleasant for sweetness, specious for colors, spacious for largeness, useful for land and sea, for housing and shipping. For timber, we have the oak, ash, poplar, black walnut, pines and gum trees. Frequently several kinds of wood were used in the construction of a boat, and the color combinations of the natural woods, with the use of turpentine and pitch, was pleasing enough to some shipbuilders. For others, however, the vessels were painted in bright colors, often a combination of several colors. The larger vessels were usually built of white oak, but due to the rapid growth of the tree, Virginia oak was not as good or lasting as the oak grown in England. Ships built from the American live oak, helped much to improve the reputation of colonial vessels.