Calling Dave Fleming...15th century shipwright

[J. Dillon]

Below from the new book "Ironfire" by David Ball. Dave, is this the way it is still done today ?

Good book a great adventure set in the Med. with much of the same problems we have today.

http://a0.cpimg.com/image/2E/85/36216110-ed8c-01420200-.jpg

http://a2.cpimg.com/image/30/85/36216112-5f02-014F0200-.jpg

[Big Red]

Aww c'mon, scan us another page willya! smile.gif

[J. Dillon]

Dave, our shipwright is a slave to the Bey of Algiers. In order to survive he needed to keep his methodology a secret, so he left no trace of how he acheived the best war galleys in the Med. at the time. Also he was constructing a secret boat out of scraps in the shipyard. He intended to escape the tyrany of slavery.

JD

http://law-books.org/0385336012.html

[Meerkat]

I recall reading (in National Geographic?) about boats and small ships (dhows etc.) being built in (Saudi?) Arabia and that the techniques used where similart to european techniques from the 16th century and earlier.

IIRC, the planks where sewn together and I think I recall a mention that they where built from the outside in (suggesting frames where added to shape the "basket" of planks...?).

(Off topic, but interesting: a fair amount of cargo is still carried in sailing dhows around the Red Sea, Indian Ocean and SE Asia... smile.gif )

[Andrew Craig-Bennett]

One thing that I do rememebr reading about mediaeval shipbuilding is that the vessels were first planked up, by eye, then framed. Northern European vessels were of course lapstrake - Mediterranean vessels were carvel, but the strakes were fastened to each other with dowels, so the form could be created before framing. (A helluva way to build something!)