Traditional Boat Making

Design Resource

Boat Making - Ernakulam, Kerala

Floating Vessel

Prof. Bibhudutta Baral, Divyadarshan C. S. and Manmi Dutta

Traditional Boat Making

The boats that are made traditionally, completely depend on quality, size and resistance of the wood used for building the boat. The knowledge of boat making is inherited from the ancestors of the local region and this tradition has been passed on from generation to generation. These boats are built mostly near river banks and boat building yards. Kerala has professional boat makers who has knowledge in building boats and their traditional method of building boats makes them finest boat builders amongst others.

The wood used for traditional boat making undergoes several stages of selection process before beginning the construction of the boat. The various process of constructing a traditional boat after the selection of the wood is listed below:

1. Planking
2. Bending
3. Joining
4. Sealing
5. Fastening
6. Coating

1. Planking:
After selection of a particular wood which is suitable for boat construction with the qualities of flexibility and durability in it, huge planks of the chosen wood are measured and marked for further cutting of the planks into required size and shapes. The hull is made stiff for long run. After the sizing of the planks are completed, then the workers arrange the planks sides in position facing each other and at the same time forming the required boat structure.

2. Bending:
The sized wooden planks are entirely coated with resin and heated so that the planks can be bent into the needed shapes. Each individual planks is shaped and bent to form the basic structure of the traditional boat. The planks are then accordingly arranged in position to form the bottom boards on a handmade wooden holder for support before starting the joining process. The inner part of the boat is divided into equal proportion with the help of small wooden planks to maintain the space and the sitting arrangement of the passengers.

3. Joining:
The individual crafted wooden planks are placed in adjacent position on a wooden holder to support it from falling. The bottom boards i.e. the inner part of the boat is prepared for the sealing process. The sides of wooden planks are firstly examined and then the drilling of the holes with the help of an electric driller is started. Each hole is drilled with a measured distance to maintain the standard measurement and positioned in an equal arrangement so that it can be easily leveled and parallel with the holes of the other plank.

4. Sealing:
The sealing process includes sealing and filling of the gaps between two planks. After finishing the drilling of the holes in the required planks, the Jute threads and the coconut coir are assembled together are placed in between the gap of the two planks covering the holes and filling the gaps. The jute threads and the coconut coir when assembled together forms a bundle that fills the gaps. As the coconut coir resists saltwater, so it is most favorable coir used for the construction of boats by the workers.

5. Fastening:
In the fastening process the plastic coir is passed in through the drilled holes of the planks creating a criss cross pattern and again passing the plastic wire out of the holes with the help of a needle. The pattern created helps in holding the coconut coir and the jute threads in position and with the help of a wooden hammer, the stitched plastic coir is tightened and nails are hammered on it to fix the position and attach the two planks together. All the other planks are attached to one another by following the same process until the boat shape has been obtained by the carpenter.

6. Coating:
After completing the whole boat paints are applied as per need to the surface of the boats and some boats are just polished with wax to give the luster affect. These traditional boats of Kerala are locally known as “Vallam”. These boats are mostly used by local people to transport small amount of goods as well as few passengers to the other part of the river bank.

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Boat Making - Ernakulam, Kerala