The first boat in this scene displays a row of shields lining the side of the boat. The purpose of the overlapping shields placed along the gunwales may have been to protect the crew from spray as well as to alleviate the storage problem on board for the shields. The man at the bow appears to be testing the water depth with a plummet-line. A plummet-line consists of a lead weight attached to a thin marked rope. Notice there is a missing section to the gunwale. The English boats have a broken gunwale whereas the Norman ships are shown with an unbroken line. The fable of ‘The Wolf King’ appears in the lower border.