to the Island in the John Hawkes . Around the 1850s, Richards married Susannah Yeo , daughter of well-known Charlottetown shipbuilder James Yeo . (17) Launched in St. Peters Bay in 1848, the schooner Arrow required 150 horses to haul it to the water. This would have required a lot of community input and supports the notion that "Launchings" often turned into community affairs. (18) The launching of a newly constructed vessel was a big occasion both economically and socially for small communities like St. Peters . The tides were watched carefully for the greatest water height as everyone raced to have the vessel ready in due time. Local stores and schools were closed so that they could all attend the launching. People dressed in their finest as did the vessel with flags decorating the masts and a large pennant boasting the vessel's name that flew from the main mast. The long awaited moment arrived as the stages were removed from the sides and grease was spread along the slipway to ensure a smooth launching. The vessel was christened with the breaking of a bottle of champagne over the bows as the dog-shores were knocked out and the stern took to the water. In St. Peters this sort of traditional launching wasn't always the case. In late winter or early spring, the completed vessel was taken out on the ice with a team of sometimes upwards of eighty horses so that it could settle into the channel during spring break-up. Vessels of varying tonnage were hauled for miles in this manner to ensure the water would be of a sufficient depth. Newspapers of the 1840s reported at least eight launchings of this type, with the waters of St. Peters Bay employing this method more frequently than any other Island harbor. (19) (See Appendix One) Many of the vessels launched from St. Peters were sold within two years of completion. The British market was of little interest to shipbuilders in St. Peters prior to 1846, but this prominent place of sale soon yielded powerful competition to the Newfoundland ship buyers. The fate of many locally built vessels after 1846 was to provide timber transport to Great Britain, and occasionally the , where the vessel and cargo were quickly sold to willing buyers. The 1850s were the years of peak production for shipbuilders on Prince Edward Island . At that time PEI launched 70 to 100 boats per year - more per capita than any other part of the British Empire. (20) Shipyards, operated by Master shipwrights, responded to the demands on the high seas and farmers who were creating a means of transport closer to home. They were also not unlike a small town, as they held all the shops and buildings required in the construction of a vessel. There was the yard forge where rudders, fastenings, bands for the masts, chains, booms, and anchors were made. A steambox heated the wood needed to from the curved part of the ship. A joiner's shop, a sail loft, bunkhouses for the workers, and many other sheds and shops were 32