Travelling across the Atlantic to the New World was a dangerous venture. Conditions aboard ships were not comfortable even for the wealthy. Not only did immigrants to the colonies run the risk of dying at sea because of storms, but they also ran the risk of succumbing to shipboard illnesses or being killed by pirates.
Most ships engaged in sailing between the New World and Europe were "galleons". Although considered the most advanced ships of the time, they did not provide any creature comforts to make the voyage more endurable.
Most of us don't realize that until The Revolutionary War, ships were a major export from the New England area. In fact, more than 1300 ships were built between 1674 and 1714 in the new colonies. According to the Transportation Institute, by "royal decree, the tallest and straightest of . . .primeval pines were reserved for the Royal Navy, and surveyors branded them with the King's broad arrow, which warned against cutting them for anything but the King's use.
The tools of the colonial shipbuilder were the ax to fell the trees, the cross-cut saw to split the huge logs, the adze to square off the logs into timber, and the drawknife to shape and smooth them into masts, keels, spars, ribs and planking. There were mauls to drive in the nails and the caulking.
In the early days, shipbuilding was often a community venture. Some colonists invested lumber and labor. Others contributed canvas, nails or cordage for the rigging. Still others provided the cargo of dried fish, lumber or barrel staves that were for many years the chief exports and media of trade. The hopes and fortunes of half a hundred families in a New England village might be riding on the success of the voyage, with everyone counting the days when, "God willing," the little vessel would come sailing safely home. . . .
All of the colonies built ships and small craft, for the main roads of early America were the water routes. Vital to survival, they led to markets and the source of imports for all the necessities - from nails and glass to powder and paper - that were not yet made at home."
We should note here that Salem was one of the more important ports along the New England coastline. By 1676, there was a thriving seafaring and trading community that had business in the West Indies, France, and Spain and, eventually, extended it trading as far away as the Orient.
Fishing was also an early industry in colonial America. There are records of fishermen venturing as far as the offshore banks by 1640 and bringing home cod, haddock, and halibut.