This is a whaling dory on display at the Nantucket Whaling Museum. This is the vehicle of the “Nantucket Sleigh ride”.

One of the many dangers of the whale hunt was the experience whalers referred to as a “Nantucket sleigh ride” - a high speed race over the waves that occured when a harpooned whale attempted to escape its hunters by diving or swimming away. An angered whale could pull a whaleboat at high speeds for many miles, drawing out the supply of extra whale line until it tired, broke free, or the crew cut the line.