Yet More Boats from Cambodia's Tonle Sap

Here's the final batch of photos from the floating villages of the Tonle Sap, Cambodia, taken by my friend John Meader on a recent trip. (See the previous three or four posts for more on the same subject.) Since I've already done small boats and large boats, I guess this post (for lack of any other coherent idea) will concentrate on "medium" boats. Click any image to enlarge.

A small commercial carrier. Gas and other fuels are often sold by the bottle-full in Cambodia, so these plastic jerry-cans might represent "storage tanks" for a small gas station, on their way to be filled. The square bow allows goods to be loaded and unloaded right over the bow onto crowded docks where it's not feasible to tie up alongside.

Interesting planking and sternpost details.

I believe this is someone's home. It appears to have a small outrigger on a short strut. Could this be a huge dugout?

A small variety store. Note the bamboo sponsons at the waterline.

If you don't like your neighbors in Chon Khneas, just tie your home to the family boat and drag it somewhere else. I don't know if these larger houseboats typically have engines, but the hull looks like it was originally intended for actual transportation, not just domicile.

Home. I can't tell how the hulls are built or even what material they are.

Happy and proud. Woof!

Once again, thanks to John Meader of Northern Stars Planetarium, providing educational astronomy programming to schools in Maine.

More Small Boats of Tonle Sap, Cambodia

I'm continuing to show photos by John Meader of boats of the Tonle Sap in Cambodia. (See the three previous posts for more on the same subject.) Today we'll look mostly at small motorized boats. The hulls appear to be virtually identical to the paddled vessels of the same size. As always, click any image to enlarge.



I like the decorated sternpost on this small powerboat.

While mom holds the baby, her young son steers the family powerboat with an oar over the stern.

Like most other female bow paddlers, this one half-sits, half squats on the foredeck as the boat approaches a floating store. 

It's common to see people wearing facemasks against the air pollution and generally noxious odors on this waterway that, unfortunately, is used as a sewer as well.

These little boats move out right smartly and seem to get at least partly up on plane.

Note the boat in the left background. The (automotive?) engine is mounted on the after deck, and it's swung 180 degrees from its operating position, so that the prop shaft extends over the hull. This is probably just to save space on the crowded waterway. When the boat will be put into use, the user will simply swivel the engine and prop shaft 180 degrees on its pivot so that the shaft extends over the stern. 

A non-motorized boat. Note the position of the paddle grip of the aft paddler. This appears very awkward to me as a North American canoeist, but as these people literally live on the water, I have to assume they know something I don't about efficient paddling. The bow-down trim is also something that I'd normally try to avoid.

A gam.

In spite of their lack of finish, these are very pretty boats when seen in profile.

Video of Tonle Sap Boats

Reader Chuck Z. Vespucci posted this video link in the comments section of the previous post about the floating villages of Tonle Sap, Cambodia, and it's so worthwhile that I want to make sure more readers see it.



Footage about boats appears right at the start, and at around the 3:55 mark.

More Boats of the Tonle Sap, Cambodia

Yesterday's post introduced paddlecraft of Chon Khneas, the floating villages on the Tonle Sap in Cambodia. I'll continue with more of John Meader's photos, this time looking at some larger vessels. As in my last post, readers are urged to comment on photos where they can add something to our understanding of these interesting and unfamiliar boats. And as always, all photos may be clicked to enlarge.


Tour boats make up a large percentage of this fleet, among which are also a variety of other vessels: houseboats, grocers, and other small retail vendors.



A fairly typical tour boat. Some are larger, some are a little spiffier. Note the interesting cross-piece at the top of the stem. This feature appears in some of the following photos as well.

Spartan interior of the tour boat in the previous picture.

A double-decker tour boat.

This might be another tour boat, but it appears to lack seating. Other ideas?

A long-tail outdrive. There's a rudder behind the prop steered by ropes, and the whole assembly can also be steered left and right for directed thrust, and lifted out of the water, as shown. I believe these rely on automotive universal joints, and they're probably powered by auto engines as well.

This barge-like hull has a long-tailed outdrive like the one shown in the previous photo.

Even as some of these large, barge-like hulls are retired to moulder away on the river bank...

...new ones are under construction nearby.

Paddled Boats of Chon Khneas, Cambodia

My friend John Meader, a fine photographer and canoeing partner (high praise!) took a trip to Cambodia and Hong Kong recently and came back with many excellent photos, which he's kindly given me permission to use. They were taken during a boat tour of the "floating village" of Chon Khneas, which is populated by Vietnamese expats. I'll be posting these in several batches with little comment, since I know no more about the boats than what I can observe in the photos. I'll focus on man-powered, paddled boats in this post, and move on to other subjects in the future. Feel free to comment if you can add to our understanding. Click on any photo for an enlarged view.



Fairly typical of the paddled boats in Chon Khneas. Note the washstrakes which, with the bulkhead at their forward and aft ends, create a cargo hold with higher freeboard than that permitted by the hull itself. Steering from the front is common, although as a canoeist, I can't explain how it's done. Paddles with long, narrow blades seem to be universal -- no oars or yulohs. The women are wearing cloths over their faces, to protect themselves from the badly polluted air.

 

Close-up of the bow of the same boat. Note the leaf-shaped stem, one of two common bow shapes.

Fisherman

Where the bow man in the previous photo sat cross-legged, women all seem to either kneel or squat when in the bow.

Here's the other common bow shape: a flat, narrow transom, in contrast to the leaf-shaped stem shown above.
I'm not sure if she's paddling this boat or just steering it. There's a bit of a bow wave, and there appears to be a small engine just aft of amidships - you can just make out what appears to be a fuel tank. But if she's under power, then she's steering from the bow and is quite far away from the engine controls.

The paddles have no end grip.

More fishermen.

A market boat.

By the way: John Meader runs Northern Stars Planetarium, bringing educational, portable planetarium shows to schools throughout Maine.

Great Source of Info for Indochinese Boats

This morning's blog post about Vietnamese woven boats was largely based on an article by Ken Preston in the current issue of WoodenBoat magazine. I forgot to mention Preston's wonderful website, The Wooden Working Boats of Indochina, a.k.a. BoatsAndRice.com. Here  you'll find not only more about woven boats, but also information about indigenous fishing and working vessels (both traditional and modern), motorized rafts (!), and lots more, organized both by boat type and by region. The site covers Vietnam, Cambodia and Laos and is full of great photos and clear explanations. Plan to spend a bit of time here.