Date: Sat, 19 Apr 1997 13:29:28 -0400
From: Bill Low <billow@capecod.net>
To: baidarka@lists.intelenet.net
Subject: Re: bow piece
LEW PLUMMER wrote:
>
> Another perspective -- on the bow:
>
> It is very likely that the original goal was to create a long, deep and
> fine, therefore, quiet bow entry. Fine entries mean low flotation at
> the bow end. The flexible baidarka requires lift at the bow to help
> shape itself to wave forms, to maintain its water line and hydrodynamics
> in rough water. The upper bow provides a wide horizontal, high volume
> section above the thin entry. The extra upper bow flotation works in
> conjunction with the location of the keel flex joint and the combined
> boat structure hysteresis. All of this requires a concave shaped bow.
> We see this in some molded boats today, it makes a dryer boat.
>
> Skin boats don't generally lend themselves to concave shapes. Today's
> sealants and woven skin materials can be pulled into concave shapes by
> sewing across the boat and pulling both sides together. This may pull
> at the weave but can still be reliably sealed. Nylon materials and
> urethane sealants are very stable over time and many conditions
>
> Leather, on the other hand, cannot be pulled in, in the same manner as
> modern materials, and reliably sealed for any length of time. The
> properties of leather can vastly change with time and conditions.
> Leather is not as stable as modern materials. This is especially true
> with split grained leathers that may have been used to make the boats as
> light weight as 18th century Europeans described.
>
> To accomplish what is effectively a concave shape in leather and
> maintain a reliable seal the Aleut stabilized the seam along the edge of
> the wooden bifurcated bow structure. This places a sealable seam in
> contact with structural support. There are other ways to accomplish the
> concave shape in leather but they don't look nearly as cool and most add
> weight.
>
> Regards, Lew Plummer
>
> carl_vonkleistiii wrote:
> >
> > Kirk Olsen wrote:
> > >
> > > Forwarded message:
> > > > From: Theodore Gallo <"tgiii@flinet.com"@flinet.com>
> > > > Subject: Re: bow piece
> > > >
> > > > John Winters wrote:
> >
> > -big snip of John Winters reply to Arlene-
> >
> > > > > Is it possible that if the kayaks were used for hunting large water
> > > > prey and either arrows or harpoons had a line attached to the kayak the
> > > > hunter after spearing his prey would place the line across the bow of
> > > > the boat to give him additional leverage to more quickly tire the
> > > > harpoonee?
> > > >
> > > > Ted, from Sunny Florida
> >
> > I wonder if it isn't just a result of the construction method used by the
> > ancients. A coincidental artifice of design that became ingrained in the
> > construction methods and traditions. It is pretty local to a specific
> > area, as opposed to being something that everyone did. Look at the
> > finial treatment of the gun'l's on the Umiak: they probably could have
> > been shortened to meet the keelson at the stem and stern, but instead
> > they overhang.
> >
> > To my mind the bow structure resembles a salmon mouth...perhaps it's
> > design orgin derives from something other than purely functional
> > considerations. I don't know to what the Aleuts relied on the salmon as
> > a food source, or what role it may have played in their culture, so this
> > may be as much supposition as any other theory.
> >
> > I do not reckon that they would have used it as you describe though, Ted.
> > I have never seen contemporary drawings showing this use, nor have I
> > heard the practice described (although I am far, far, far from an expert
> > on the subject, and could easily have missed something.) It would
> > probably have made controlling the boat awkward if not downright
> > impossible. Certainly the idea of tiring the quarry has merit, but from
> > what I have read that was accomplished with either the harpoon itself or
> > with a float attached to the harpoon line.
> > --
> > Eric von Kleist We pray for one last landing
> > Hilton Head Island, SC On the globe that gave us birth,
> > USA To rest our eyes on the fleecy skies
> > And the cool green hills of Earth.
> >
> > Carlyle said, "A lie cannot live"; it shows he did not now how to
> > tell them. Mark Twain
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This is getting a little long.
Lew what you said makes sense. I have noticed that the bifid bow seems
to have another effect on the boat. When moving into waves the bifid
penetrates the wave rather than rising out the top of the wave as the
flared bow boats tend to do. The flare tends to causing pounding. That
is the bow raises out the top of the wave and then falls into the next
trough.
The bifid punctures the wave. It seems to keep the boat on more of an
even keel which reduces pounding. The bifid flare provides some
stability on entering the wave. The vertical section cuts the wave. On
my boat when the bow penetrates the wave that section of water above the
boat collapses falls accross the deck and flows away. I almost never get
water as far back as the cockpit. This smooth ride through the waves in
combination with the articulated keelson makes riding the waves a
pleasure.
I would assume that the Aleuts developed the bifid bow and articulated
keelson together and found the combination worked for them. Everything
else about the boat was for function not a slave to form. I would think
that this is true for the bifid bow also.
Bill Low