WoodenBoat was also good enough to highlight the Vietnam Wooden Boat Foundation, which is:
Dedicated to preserving the maritime history of Vietnam with an emphasis on the art, craft, lore, and history of traditional Vietnamese wooden boat building.
I can buy into that. They seem to be small, but ambitious. They are collecting and publishing information and also seem to be intent on making some sawdust on both sides of the Pacific. And there are some really interesting boats to preserve.
One project is to build a boat called a Ghe Nang in Vietnam and bring it over here. I like this boat - it looks great and, according to the foundation, was known as the fastest of all Vietnamese sailboats. Interesting rig description too:
It was double ended and had a slotted stem-post forward which held a removable centerboard, and a slotted stern post aft which held a removable rudder. It fished using driftnets secured to booms set fore and aft. The centerboard and rudder were raised out of the water during fishing operations and when beaching the boat. Another unique feature was that the hulls were typically made from woven bamboo attached to a top wood frame. Woven bamboo hulls are common in central Vietnam.
Their web site includes photos of a number of other types of boats. A taste: