Vessels were made of wood-typically ranging in length from 40 to nearly 300ft in length, 10 to 80ft wide, drawing only about one to five feet of water loaded, and in fact it was commonly said that they could "navigate on a heavy dew."
Vessels, on average, only lasted about five years due to the wooden hulls being breached, poor maintenance, fires, general wear and tear, and the common boiler explosion.