On Fri, 06 Jul 2007 15:38:24 GMT, "Island Teak"
wrote:
"Bruce" wrote in message
.. .
On Thu, 05 Jul 2007 08:05:37 -0000, Two meter troll
wrote:
Probably some of the last commercial sailing boats were the Bugis
schooners from S. Sulawasi that didn't use bamboo to build their
boats.
A good place to see a large number of Bugis built traditional schooners is
in Surabaya city on the east end of Java, just prior to the shift in winds
to return them to Sulawasi.
Still doesn;t make bamboo a good boat building material.
I have neve used bamboo on the water, but I did build a traditional bamboo
house years ago and watched the structual integrity of the bamboo break down
over a few years. I should add that this was a stilt house with ample air
circulation with a dry climate for at least 6 months of the year. Best
thing about a bamboo house is that you get a nice, new fresh house every few
years.
However, if someone is quite determined to use bamboo research into the
numerous varieties of bamboo. There is one bamboo in Thailand, that is solid
and used often for tool handles such as a garden hoe handle.
Bruce, this is the bamboo that has the very sharp thorns, would know the
scientific name ?
...Ken
Bruce in Bangkok
(brucepaigeatgmaildotcom)
I can't give you the scientific name but in Thai it is pietan
(probably a lousy phonetic translation and mispelled to boot). The
Thai word translates to pie (bamboo) solid (tan).
I'm not sure how many Bugis sailing schooners there are left. Ten
years, or so, ago I was building a small gas refinery in Central Java
and had several commissioning engineers over from the States. As we
lived in a little Chinese hotel and ate Indonesian food I tried to
take everybody to the closest town, Cirebon, every Sunday to get a
western meal and do some shopping. Since the guys were all homesick
for America I used to try and show them "the sights" to take their
minds off being thousands of miles from home.
One Sunday I took them down to the harbor to show them the Bugis
boats. On the way I gave them a real pep talk about these being the
last commercial sailing boats; been building them since the Portuguese
days, bla, bla.
When we finally got there were Bugis boats in droves -- and not a
single one had a mast. Apparently the Bugis have discovered the
internal combustion engine and taken it to heart. The boats look the
same, except for the lack of a mast, but they all have a big diesel
mounted on the side with a long shaft like a Thai long tail boat.
Still got the steering oars though.
More about Bamboo. Some years back there were a number of commercial
buildings, mainly in the countryside, that used bamboo in place of
re-bar. My brother in law build a small warehouse using it. The
warehouse is still standing and in use today but whether that is
because bamboo makes good re-bar or blind luck I cannot say.
Bruce in Bangkok
(brucepaigeatgmaildotcom)
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