The Dhows of Bahrain

On a recent trip to Manama, Bahrain I managed to visit one of the last boatyards in the Persian Gulf building and repairing dhows. It's located near the so-called "Pearling Path" across the Gulf of Bahrain from the Arad Fort, occupying a narrow sliver of land in al-Muharraq. In addition to the variety of wooden vessels around, there was stacks of extremely dry timber that would at some point be fashioned into frames or hull planks. The local shipwrights were very accommodating to two Americans with cameras and absolutely no way to communicate with them. They made it clear though through sign language that there was no smoking.

I clearly know nothing about dhows, but in researching this trip I think that there were three major types being built and repaired at the yard:

• The Jelibut is a small to medium-sized dhow, with an upright prow, narrow stern, with a flat transom. It was distinctive in its difference from the others, but there was only one under construction when we were there.

  
  

• The Sambuk was the most common type that we saw being built and worked on and the shipwrights were kind enough to let us climb up to the deck and look around. The typical sharp-angled stem piece gives the bow a distinctive Arabic look, with the wide hull setting on a straight keel. The wide, flat transom completes the look of what most people would think of as an Arab dhow.

  
  

• There was one (actually two) of the largest and most ornately carved dhows present, the Ghangaj is insanely big and the carving of the transom intricate.

  
  

I found the construction of them very similar to traditional European ships. The framing of the vessels is very close, more so than I'm previously familiar with. The frames are nearly four inches to a side and carved to shape, rather than bent. They're only seperated by eight to twelve inches, making the hull incredibly strong. The hull planks are them bent to the frames using carriage bolts and nailed in place with long iron nails. These are set into the hull and caulked over with what appears to be putty. The seams are caulked with cotton or hemp (I couldn't tell which) and the whole is then covered in a resin, though I think polyester, rather than epoxy. Though its just as possible its a natural resin or oil.

All in all it was a fascinating visit and I'm glad the shipwrights let two people that couldn't speak their language roam around their boats.