Excerpt from Despotiko: A Refuge for Boats, Chapter 3 : The Tempest, p. 37 ; and Chapter 4 : To Build a Boat, pp. 73 – 79 | Master Thesis | Politecnico di Milano 2019

Many argue that Greece would not have existed as we know it today without its people’s seamanship. The Greeks’ sailing skills were of utter importance in establishing the country’s independence, both in political and financial terms.

Greece used to possess the largest fleet of caiques, made with excellent craftsmanship – around 17 000 vessels, most of them small boats (καΐκια, in greek) used for small-scale coastal fishing. Nowadays, with the progress of technology in shipbuilding, vernacular methods of construction and boatyards are in decline; the building of wooden ships survived as an art only for the construction of small craft. A large number of the wooden fleet has been lost, and along with it the knowledge and technique of boatbuilders is fading away.

The existing wooden boats represent a seafaring tradition that dates over three thousand years, starting from the “wooden wall” of Triremes in the era of Themistocles, to the wooden vessels of the revolution against the Ottomans and the Second World War. In the 1960s, the boatyards were of utmost financial importance in coastal ports and villages, since they fed 200-300 families. The day on which a vessel’s construction reached the end was always a day of celebration at the boatyards, setting the boat afloat while accompanying it with prayers, music and dancing.

Those vessels constitute a living memory of Greece’s history and heritage, involving emotional relationships, from the people that build them to the people that sailed on them to earn a living for their families.

In greek there are two words that describe a boatyard: καρνάγιο (karnayio) and ταρσανάς (tarsanas). The first word derives from the italian word carina, implying the shape of a boat’s hull, whereas the second comes from the turkish word tersane, literally meaning the place where boats are anchored and repaired. Interestingly, both words are used with the same frequency, thus proving the influence that Greece’s neighbouring countries had on local seafaring.

Most boatbuilding activities took place outdoors, since the weather permits it. A boatyard had covered and open air installations, depending on the kind of work and the climatic conditions of the specific place. On islands or coastal regions, choosing the location of a boatyard was dependent on financial factors or historical circumstances, as well as the environment itself. By studying the landscape on which shipyards are inserted (see following pages), it results that a major factor on the choice of location was the existence of a sheltered sea area. The shore in front of the boatyard, where the launching of boats took place, had to be protected by the open sea. Installing a boatyard on a closed bay suggested the protection by strong winds and currents; north winds are especially potent and common in the Aegean Sea. Equally important was the topography of the area, as a small slope was crucial to helping launch the boats in the water. Furthermore, the location of a boatyard may sometimes imply elements about its social role and the effect it had on neighbouring communities. Some of the boatyards in Greece were actually constructed while the built tissue of the area surrounding them was still under configuration (Damianidis: 1996). Many boatyards used to have an important social character, since they constituted a hub of production for the local society. In fact, the launching of a boat in the waters was a social event that involved the whole community and had a festive character.

According to Damianidis, in 1987 there existed around 143 traditional boatyards all around Greece. Nowadays, with the profession of boatbuilding being in decline and the boats themselves being drawn ashore, the number of boatyards has been severely reduced [..] only around 20 traditional boatyards are still active.

[…]

In general terms, the space of a boatyard had a simple configuration. The permanent installations allowing the building of boats were just the essential. The main prerequisite for the right construction of a boat was mostly the work of an experienced boatbuilder, rather than the premises and infrastructure of the boatyard. The craftsmen working at the boatyards did not usually have many tools at their disposal due to their poor financial condition, neither possessed substantial knowledge of maths or geometry. Nevertheless, they managed to build boats that could sail in any kind of weather. Along with the master boatbuilders there were other craftsmen specialised in different jobs: a person for cutting wood, a person for sawing wood, a person preparing the tar to spread on the hull, the caulker, the blacksmith and further manufacturers of sails, rows, ropes and so on (Arteon: 2013). Men interested to learning the job had to work as apprentices from a very young age, without any payment. Learning was achieved through practice, since the master boatbuilders never revealed their secret techniques of construction.

Perhaps this situation of unorganised education constituted a limit to transmitting the know-how of the profession up to the present days. Nonetheless, boatbuilding in wood is a craft that has survived down to our times and is perhaps the art par excellence which reflects the transmission of heritage of Greek technical culture, from father to son and through the centuries.

Bibliography

Arteon, Θαλασσινά Καΐκια και Βάρκες του Τόπου μας. 18ος – 20ος αιώνας, Αρτέον Εκδοτική, Athens, 2013

Damianidis K. A., Ελληνική Παραδοσιακή Αρχιτεκτονική, Πολιτιστικό Τεχνολογικό Ίδρυμα ΕΤΒΑ, Athens, 1996

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