The last Dhow to be built in Dubai?

Following his rambling rant about the fate of the Dhow builders at the head of the creek the Weasel decided that it was about time he visited the place before the concrete pourers take over.

It's not often you get to witness the passing of an age no less.

Dhows have been built in Dubai and all over the region for centuries, it is believed they are possibly descendants of ancient trading vessels coupled with medieval designs taken from ships that sailed from Venice and other Mediterranean ports to trade spices with the caravans
It is still possible to get down to what remains of the yards, though I wouldn't hang around if you want to see this fascinating place.
To get there take the turning by the garden stalls on the right heading towards the Garhoud bridge and hang a left where a sign points towards the jet ski rides. Park by the skis and walk through the new fence.














The Weasel fell into conversation with Rajit, a lumber supplier, he is providing the wood for what in all likelihood will be the last large Dhow built in Dubai.
It is the ship on the right along side its stunning smaller sister vessel, shown at the top of the page.

At 140 feet long it's an impressive sight from outside and amazing inside the hull.


The craftmanship is supearb and all done by hand, 2 years of labour and about 1 million dhs as a bare hull or 4 million fully fitted with engines.

The beam is over 40 feet which presents its own problems, in order to have a strong enough deck single spars of wood must be used to span the ship, however modern containers cannot carry logs longer than 38 feet or so, meaning that steel will have to be used to support the deck.


The curvature of the ribs is natural and obtained by using trees brought in from Pakistan that are naturally curved (maybe because of the wind?) .
this means the ribs are stronger.

Take away the iron bolts from this image an it could be anytime in the last 1000 yrs, even with them it could be 500 years old. Apart from yer man's ratchet spanner that is of course...


Beats the crap out of plastic Dinosaurs.