Chine bLog finds and promotes small,traditional / tradition-inspired,and (mostly) wooden boats - their design,building,and use. It is authored by lifelong boater and budding designer / builder Tim Shaw. Enjoy!
I also read,in recent times,Tim Severin‘s “The Jason Voyage”,his attempt at following the mythical story of Jason and the Argonauts. He had a Bronze Age Aegean galley built using archeological evidence and historical texts. This was the real deal –it would have banks of rowers toiling away and the characteristic “ram”bow. He set off from Greece and headed for the Dardanelles,following the legend’s trail and,once again,finding evidence that the myth may have been based on reality. Among the most fascinating aspects of the voyage was that it debunked the longstanding reason for it being myth:a vessel of that era could not have transited to notorious currents of the Dardanelles and Bosporus. Severin,though,figured out how to use back-eddies and other local nuances of the waterway to successful complete the trip from the Aegean to the Black Sea. Once there,the voyage continued to current-day Georgia,wherein Severin and crew “seal the deal”by identifying the likely source for the golden fleece as well as numerous other facts that match the stories.
I was almost tempted to make this book second to The Brendan Voyage,if only because the myth-to-facts aspect of the book are so compelling. In the end,I gave The Sinbad Voyage the honor,but this is a close third. The year after he completed this voyage,Severin took the same boat on another voyage to trace Ulysses’s voyage in “The Odyssey”. That book is in the on-deck-circle on my bed-side table and I look forward to sharing a review with you all soon.
I have had some time to sift through the back catalog here at Chine bLog headquarters and noted that I never covered a few key books I read in the last couple years. In particular,after knocking off Tim Severin‘s The China Voyage and then his The Brendan Voyage,I moved on to his some of his other like books. Severin’s trip in BRENDAN,the authentic 9th century curragh,got his wheels spinning,it seems,and he hit on another mythical journey to test:the adventures of Sinbad.
It was commonly accepted at the time (~1980),that these writings were pure myth. Severin arranged to build a replica 9th century dhow in Oman,scouring the Arabian Sea shores for period materials,especially the coconut husk fiber builders of the day used to lash the boat together. Yes,these were plank–on-frame boats that were fully lashed. He and a crew then sailed the boat from Oman to China,identifying sources for the supposedly mythical elements and,thereby,suggesting the Sinbad stories may have been based on an amalgamation of true events.
The first quarter or so of the book is all about the boat and its materials,and that alone makes it worth reading. The actual voyage is not as gripping as that of the BRENDAN,but it is still an engaging story. If you haven’t read any Severin,I’d start with The Brendan Voyage and then grab this one immediately afterwards. Here is a summary piece if you need more convincing.
In case anyone thinks I am some kind of wooden boat poseur…I was recently cleaning stuff out and came across a bunch of old checks,including some of the first I ever wrote. Inclued was this one,from 1985:my first subscription to WoodenBoat. Keepin’it real…
Even more interesting to note is that there is a movie coming out about the effort,“Our Blue Canoe.”The article above included the trailer,courtesy of YouTube:
Good stuff here. Look out for the film and check out the book.
We recently stumbled across a lovely piece from the Seattle media site crosscut.com about authenticity. It stems form the author’s reflections exhibiting his self-built boats at the Port Townsend (WA) Wooden Boat Festival. He reflects on that tension we all,in the classic / traditional boat world,feel between the desire to have a boat that is “authentic”to its heritage but is practical and/or economical. I have excerpted some bon mots from it;it is well worth reading all the way through.
Here’s the principle:An authentic product is something that you,its creator or user,believe in. It may be as minor as a deck cleat or as monumental as a bill passing Congress. If you can’t believe in it,it’s no good.
Most of the boats in the festival are likewise. They’re not pure restorations or replicas;they’re practical,almost living creations that are full of their owners’ hearts and ideas and failures.
As long as you obey the laws of physics,you can build or restore a wooden boat exactly as you want…Your boat will not be ideal or perfect,but you’ll come to terms with this reality and view it as a tangible record of your character and skills at the time. You’ll have built yourself into the product of your work.
As I have noted before,one of the biggest issues I have found with the skin-on-frame outrigger canoe AL DEMANY CHIMAN is that the ama isn’t working out. The shape is a bit off and it ships too much water. Having completed a number of smaller maintenance items since calling an end to the season,I have begin the winter’s major project:redesigning and rebuilding the ama.
My first step was last night. I unscrewed the “sheer clamps”and the pulled off the skin. What I found was a bit distressing,if not wholly unexpected:there has been water trapped beneath the skin and the frame doing what water will do. You can see that dark area where the oil I put on the bow piece didn’t help (or wasn’t enough). The part above that was quite wet,and that is from rain somehow getting in (or,forbid,leftover from a month ago –shudder). The line where the skin met the bow piece is distressingly evident,though this is more mildew. The bigger issue here is that the two planks that make up that piece have separated (note the slight hitch in the “sheerline”). The afte end is better off,but has a few issues of it’s own.
So this leaves me with the question of how to proceed from here,as I have to approach this project with an additional variable. Factors I am thinking about are:
I need to reconstruct the ama so that it does not ship water
I want to preserve the skin-on-frame look as much as possible
It is unlikely that,with the skin-on-frame medium,I can keep all water out
If I make the ama a good deal more watertight,but not 100% so,I’ll end up with more of the issues noted above
A new ama that is fully watertight and water-protected may not go as well with the rest of the boat
A bit of a quandary,eh? My current thinking is to unlash the frame,coat every inside surface with the same two-part polyurethane that coats the skin,partially relash,add foam to fill the inside,and reskin the ama. My guess is that this approach leaves some vulnerability to water damage,but hopefully holds it off a good bit. Any other ideas or approaches you all would recommend? Please comment below. Many thanks,
I had a couple management meetings this week that provided for doodling space. I have been thinking about a larger skin-on-frame craft ad that led me to umiaks. The name then came to me and so a boat needed to come of it:an umiak-construction hull with lines and rig evoking that classiest of classics,the Friendship sloop. Fun to noddle on.
Boat,Build and Sail is a free,after-school,13-week program each semester in which groups of 10 to 12 construct a wooden boat. Youths 12 to 18 go to the factory in Frankford to learn carpentry,use professional tools,and work together to build nautical vessels.
But,as Bess wrote,the youths also learn lifelong lessons at the sawdust-filled shop on Worth Street.
Posted on January 16th,2012
This was the real deal –it would have banks of rowers toiling away and the characteristic “ram”bow. He set off from Greece and headed for the Dardanelles,following the legend’s trail and,once again,finding evidence that the myth may have been based on reality. Among the most fascinating aspects of the voyage was that it debunked the longstanding reason for it being myth:a vessel of that era could not have transited to notorious currents of the Dardanelles and Bosporus. Severin,though,figured out how to use back-eddies and other local nuances of the waterway to successful complete the trip from the Aegean to the Black Sea. Once there,the voyage continued to current-day Georgia,wherein Severin and crew “seal the deal”by identifying the likely source for the golden fleece as well as numerous other facts that match the stories.
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,by Ben R. Finney,a book detailing his close involvement with the early iterations of this movement. In short,a few groups of Polynesians connected with each otherseveral years ago and decided to build versions of their traditional voyaging canoes and sail together around Polynesia using traditional navigation (i.e.,by stars,birds,weather patterns,etc.) It is a pretty interesting read,especially since Finney sailed with esteemed Micronesian navigator 
You can see that dark area where the oil I put on the bow piece didn’t help (or wasn’t enough). The part above that was quite wet,and that is from rain somehow getting in (or,forbid,leftover from a month ago –shudder). The line where the skin met the bow piece is distressingly evident,though this is more mildew. The bigger issue here is that the two planks that make up that piece have separated (note the slight hitch in the “sheerline”). The afte end is better off,but has a few issues of it’s own. 
