Why was Kino's canoe so valuable to him?

"Kino and Juana came slowly down to the beach and to Kino's canoe, which

was the one thing of value he owned in the world. It was very old.

Kino's grandfather had brought it from Nayarit, and he had given it to

Kino's father, and so it had come to Kino. It was at once property and

source of food, for a man with a boat can guarantee a woman that she

will eat something. It is the bulwark against starvation."