"Joyita" lacked watertight bulkheads or subdivisions in the bilges. As usual for barges they were carvel built, with bluff bows and rounded bilges. Although "Joyita" was found with her bilges and lower decks flooded, her hull was sound. They were carvel-built with rounded bilges and sterns, and had a shallow draught. The keel is full and bilges are firm. Methods of removing water from bilges have included buckets and pumps. Limber holes are common in the bilges of wooden boats. The heads would pop off from stress corrosion, allowing seawater to leak into the bilges. Harland's designing skills created ships with flatter bottoms and squarer bilges to increase capacity. Single screw propulsion, a cutaway forefoot under the bow, and rounded bilges facilitated ice-breaking. "Windoc" has sat in the port of Montreal ever since, inoperable and its bilges flooded. A check showed no water in the bilges. During the construction the Lloyd's surveyors wanted additional strengthening around the bilges and other areas. Bilges are firm, and the wide beam gives stability. Bilges became foul and the smell, especially below the closed hatches, was over-powering.