Wooden boat building Pakistan style

[FinesseChris]

I'm indebted to Atlantic magazine for this account of boatbuiling in Gwadar, in the west of Pakistan:
"At a nearby beach, I watched as dhows were built and repaired. Some men used their fingers to smear epoxy on the wooden seams of the hulls while others, sprawled next to scrawny dogs and cats, took long smokes in the shade. There were no generators, no electric drills—just craftsmen making holes with manual drills turned by bows, as though they were playing stringed instruments. A few men working for three months can build a 40-foot fishing boat in Gwadar. The teak comes from Burma and Indonesia. Cod-liver oil, painted on the hulls, provides waterproofing. The life of a boat is 20 years. "
Some lessons here. Especially about the long rests in the shade.
link to article

 

[absit_omen]

[ QUOTE ]
Some men used their fingers to smear epoxy on the wooden seams of the hulls while others, sprawled next to scrawny dogs and cats, took long smokes in the shade./quote]

Sounds like a typical day at my Gaff. /forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif

 

[cliffordpope]

Gwadar was an Omani enclave until I think 1961, so it's arab building rather than Pakistani.

Read the fascinating account of the arab dhow built a few years ago in one of the gulf states and then sailed to China. They did it to prove it could really be done - it was built entirely from wood fastened together with coconut fibre lashings, sealed with gallons of foul-smelling coconut oil. It was the largest dhow built by traditional methods in 100 years - some of the old craftsmen could dimly remember old boats of a similar size being broken up.