Dhow is the generic name of a number of traditional sailing vessels with one or more masts with triangular shaped sails (called more technically "lateen" sails) used in the Red Sea and Indian Ocean region. Historians still don't know whether the dhow was invented by Arabs or Indians. Typically built with long thin hulls, dhows are trading vessels primarily used to carry heavy items, like fruit, fresh water or merchandise, along the coasts of the Eastern Arabia (Arab states of the Persian Gulf), … [Read more...]
Cruise Ship
A cruise ship or cruise liner is a passenger ship used for pleasure voyages, where the voyage itself and the ship's amenities are a part of the experience, as well as the different destinations along the way. Transportation is not the prime purpose, as cruise ships operate mostly on routes that return passengers to their originating port, so the ports of call are usually in a specified region of a continent. There are even "cruises to nowhere" or "nowhere voyages" where the ship makes two - … [Read more...]
Cornish Pilot Gig
A historical boat still in use today, the original purpose of the Cornish pilot gig was as a general work boat, and the craft is used for taking pilots out to incoming vessels off the Atlantic. At the time, the race would be the first gig to get their pilot on board a vessel (often those about to run aground on rocks) got the job, and hence the payment. [cf. Wikipedia] This not very unusual floating device is a six-oared rowing boat, built of Cornish narrow leaf elm, thirty-two feet (9.8 … [Read more...]
Coracle, a Lightweight Boat
The coracle is a small, round boat made of wickerwork or laths covered with a waterproofed layer of animal skin or fabric used in Wales, Ireland, and parts of western England. I found this beautiful fragment somewhere: "In times gone by, people living on the many small islands of Scotland would carry food and comfort to their neighbors using a small boat, called a coracle. A coracle is a carrier of nurturing friendship". Very beautiful, but everything else I found about this boat, is based on … [Read more...]
The Coble – A Fishing Boat
The coble is a type of open fishing boat used mostly on the North East coast of England. The southern examples occur up around Hull; the type extends to Burnmouth, across the Scottish border. Coble has a distinctive shape — flat-bottomed and high-bowed. It is built like taht to cope with the particular conditions in this area. Flat bottoms allowed launching from and landing upon shallow, sandy beaches, which is an advantage in this part of the coast where the wide bays and inlets provided … [Read more...]
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