Information About

Dhow




A dhow is a traditional Arab Sailing Vessel with one or more Lateen Sail s. It is primarily used along the coasts of the Arabian Peninsula , India , and East Africa . A larger dhow may have a crew of approximately thirty while smaller dhow have crews typically ranging around twelve.

For celestial navigation, dhow sailors have traditionally used the Kamal . This observation device determines Latitude by finding the angle of the Pole Star above the Horizon .

Up to the 1960s, dhows made commercial journeys between the Persian Gulf and East Africa using only sails as a means of propulsion. The freight was mostly Dates and Fish to East Africa and Mangrove timber to the lands in the Persian Gulf . They sailed south with the monsoon in winter or early spring and back again to Arabia in late spring or early summer.


TYPES OF DHOW

  • '' Ghanjah '' - a large vessel with a curved stem and a sloping, ornately carved Transom .

  • '' Baghlah '' - the traditional deep-sea dhow

  • '' Battil '' - featured long stems topped by large, club-shaped stem heads

  • '' Badan '' - a smaller vessel requiring a shallow draught



SEE ALSO




EXTERNAL LINKS


  • http://www.archaeology.org/9705/abstracts/dhow.html

  • http://www.ecssr.ac.ae/Land/Dhow.html

  • http://www.sfusd.k12.ca.us/schwww/sch618/Ibn_Battuta/Ibn_Battuta_Trip_Four.html

  • Dhows of Kuwait