DHOWS

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Throughout the 1930s about five dhows a year were being built in the boatyard at Maalla. They were built by Hadhrami merchants using Indian teak from the Malabar coast. Most of these dhows were vessels of about 200 tons, strongly built and fast for their type. They were much used to sail between the Persian Gulf and Zanzibar, especially carrying rugs to Zanzibar. (Some readers of this short piece may have attended auctions of rugs in the 1960s, usually advertised as having been brought back to Aden from Zanzibar.) 

 

The photograph of the launching of a dhow dates from around 1947, but things would not have changed much since the ‘30s.

The launching of a new dhow was always accompanied by great celebration. Sheep's blood would be poured on the stern for good luck and the crowd of helpers would enjoy a sit-down feast courtesy of the merchant owner.

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By the mid-1950s the motorised dhow, conceived by Antonin Besse, had largely replaced the sailing dhow, the latter being unable to make any headway in certain wind conditions. Besse's first diesel powered dhow built in 1936 enabled him to complete an important meat contract, importing sheep from Berbera, despite the prevailing monsoon. Later, during the war his motorised dhows would supply all the RAF stations along the southern coast of Arabia with Shell fuel.

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The second photograph, dating from around 1955, is of a motorised dhow propped up in shallow water to be cleaned, 

 whilst the third picture, taken of the dhow building yard at Maalla in around 1960, shows that although the means of propulsion had changed, the method of construction hadn’t! 

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The dhows were originally built on the beach at Maalla but following land reclamation, and the construction of new wharves for lighters, the dhow building industry was moved north, to the beach at Slave Island.

The design of the dhow owes much to the Portugese explorers of earlier years, the windowed, square stern of the dhow being reminiscent of their galleons and caravels. Even the familiar stern galley was reproduced, but not used.
 

The builders of the dhows did not use plans. The entire ship was built by eye, the master builder studying the lines during construction and tailor-fitting each piece. Bentak was imported from the Malabar coast, oak ribs from Persia, nails and caulking cotton from India, coconut and sim-sim oil from East Africa, shark-oil and date juice.

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The timbers below the waterline were protected with mutton fat and lime. The mutton fat waterproofed the keel and bottom planks while the lime acted as a poison to deter any worms in the timber. The lime could be sourced locally from the lime kilns.

Though the length of timbers used were in themselves very strong, the method of jointing was weak at certain key points, resulting in a weak hull. This was why dhows would break up very quickly when grounded on a beach in heavy seas and disintegrate within a matter of hours if grounded on rocks.  

 

It was found that a motorised dhow had a much shorter working life than a sailing dhow as it was used in all seasons and in all weather, yet despite this, it was far more profitable. The captains, or nakhudas, of the sailing dhows were initially sceptical of the motors, and more so because they required an Indian mechanic onboard to maintain them. Yet they soon realised the advantages and contrary to Besse company guidelines to save fuel, would rarely use sail even when conditions allowed.

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As well as the larger dhows (anything above about 50 tons – and some built in the Gulf around 1900 were several times the size of those built in Aden) there was also the small sailing vessel of around 16 to 20 tons called a buggalow. The final picture is of two such craft. Buggalows could sail quite long distances but usually remained in sight of shore. For example, buggalows were used to carry rations and other supplies from Aden to the detachment on Perim, some 90 miles from Aden.