Irecently took my camera on a trip to the every tide. The drying and oxygen that enters the coast of China near Taiwan. Quanzhou was planking kills the worms, too. The tung oil and lime described in glowing terms by Marco Polo. mixture is impervious to worm larvae.
It was the terminus of the “Maritime Silk Road” of Paint doesn’t appear to adhere well to these trade between Far and Near East. boats. Possibly they are soaked with an oily vermi-
The fishing junks I saw in the walled harbor of toxic compound prior to painting, or possibly they Chongwu were similar to a reconstruction of a 1200 are made of tropical hardwoods containing oils year old ship unearthed near the Maritime museum: naturally toxic to the worms. sculpted eyes at the bow to see the way, watertight bulkheads, wings at the stern, kick-up rudder, transom bow and stern. Some have a socket to step the mast for sailing, but small gasoline engines now power most of these boats.
Many of the boats I came across were at war with worms. Gribble and Teredo, the boring worms, feast on wooden boats in warm water. Walled harbors are built into the mouths of rivers. Fresh water from the Need a boat and all you’ve got is conduit and styro- river kills the worms, which are saltwater creatures. foam? Just weld a boat-shaped conduit cage around These boats are careened (left high and dry) with your foam and head out to sea.
Besides their obvious beauty, these boats impressed me with how smoothly they cut through the waves and the good speed they achieved with their little 6hp “Mao” engines. I saw one sailing into a sharp chop and the sail was very still, which is a sign of a good sailing design.
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