What kind of boat is this?

I happened to see the video for Billy Joel's "Downeaster Alexa" and I noticed that the fisherman in the video were using a boat that appears to have an outboard motor mounted inboard somehow and it appears to be mounted in the bow. Please look at the following link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LVlDSzbrH5M and be prepared to stop the video at 2:12. You could also view the screenshot I took as well ("bow-mounted-outboard.png". What kind of boat is this and how is it used?

 

Welcome to the forum.

The boat in the video is a dory and the engine mount is common among fishermen. Down here (Florida) it's seen on mullet skiffs, but up in new England, it's likely used for anything that's hauling a net or gear (dredge, trot lines, etc.).

 

Interesting!

Thanks for the response. My town is situated on Lake Superior. Our fishing industry is more a part of our past than it is our present, so I am not familiar with kinds of boats are used today.

Is the bow mounted motor the only motor on the boat? Referring again to the video, it seems like a small motor for the task powering a relatively large boat into the surf. And one final question: why is the motor in the bow?

 

The forward mount severs a few purposes - it keeps the place where they'll work gear freed up of an engine box and control cables, it places the prop well away from the gear, even if they get caught in irons, when their gear is moving faster then they are (a potentially huge problem) and it places the engine in deeper water when coming off a beach. The boat isn't designed or intended to plane off, so the location isn't critical for performance.

 

Also designed to run in shallow water. Running at the right speed with the right design of course.the lower unit or foot of motor actually rides in the swell of water pushed in front of the boat allowing the boat to navigate in only inches of water.