The few available records of early boatbuilding in the Virginia colony
differ so materially that one cannot make a statement as to number or
kind of vessels with any degree of accuracy. That the first vessel
constructed in Virginia was built earlier than the year 1611, and was
of twelve or thirteen tons capacity, seems to be an accepted fact as
given in the Spaniard Molina's _Report of a Voyage to Virginia_ in
1611. The report also referred to a galley of twenty-five benches
being built there.
In his _Short Relation_ to the Council of the Virginia Company in
June, 1611, Lord De La Warr spoke regretfully of the fact that the
three forts he had erected near Point Comfort were not properly manned
because of a lack of boats, there being but two, and one barge in all
the colony. The fishing, too, had been hindered because of this
shortage. No mention was made of the galley that was said to have been
in the process of construction.