Schooner Moored on East Branch of the Westport River. Schooners were the workhorses of the coastal trade, picking up and delivering goods and materials to otherwise inaccessible markets along the coast and islands of New England. Coastal trade served all the coastlines of the United States extending up river highways like the Westport River. This schooner with bow headed upriver perhaps has offloaded one cargo and is picking up another before sailing back out Westport Harbor.