When I first saw this I figured it was the boat that brought back drunks or sailors who had gotten into trouble while on liberty, well I was wrong.

These are small boats were often used to bring out provisions and commodities while the ship was off shore or anchored in a busy port. These were hoisted aboard and lowered by booms which were the long spars used to extend the foot of the sail. Boom comes from the Old High German term buom for tree. This term became applied to any small boat that visited a ship while in port, since they often carried small goods to sell to the crewmen.