Traditional wooden boatbuilding a dying craft

Описание: (20 Jul 2021) LEAD IN:
The Greek island of Samos was once a major production center for traditional wooden boats - hand-crafted vessels indelibly linked to the image of Greece.
They've been sailing these seas for centuries as fishing, cargo and pleasure boats, but now only a handful of boatbuilders are left - the last generation of a time-honored craft that's dying out.

STORY-LINE:
In the early morning, the unmistakable form of a traditional Greek wooden boat bobs on the water - a caique, or kaiki, the likes of which have sailed these seas for hundreds of years.
Each beam of wood, each plank, has been felled, trimmed, and shaped by one man alone, hauled and nailed into place using techniques handed down through generations, from father to son, uncle to nephew.
Wooden boats are an integral part of the Greek landscape, adorning tourist brochures, postcards, and countless holiday snaps.
They have been used as fishing boats, to transport cargo, livestock, and passengers, and as pleasure crafts.  
But the art of designing and building these vessels, done entirely by hand, is under threat.
Fewer people order wooden boats as plastic and fiberglass ones are cheaper to maintain.
Young people aren't as interested in joining a profession that requires years of apprenticeship, is physically and mentally draining, and has an uncertain future.  
Giorgos Kiassos, one of the last remaining boatbuilders on Samos, is working on two orders: a 14-meter pleasure craft and a 10-meter fishing boat.  
This eastern Aegean island was once a major production center.
A few decades ago, numerous boatyards dotted the island, providing a major source of employment and sustaining entire communities. Now, there are only about four left.
"Young people don't (want to work on boatbuilding) because it's heavy work, although it's an art, but it's also heavy work, it's tough work. It's manual labour, that's tiring," says ,
Kiassos started young.
Now 47, he's been working for more than 30 years, but says he's still learning.
He knows the right season to fell the trees, when to use naturally curved timber, and where on the boat each piece should go.
Get it right, and his creation combines beauty, function, and durability.  
Get it wrong, and you have serious problems.
"It's important to have someone experienced because if you make one mistake, especially in the first stages of (building) the boat, the boat might end up being, well, more of a basin than a boat," laughs Kiassos.
Samos caiques are famed both for their workmanship and their raw material - timber from a pine species whose high resin content makes it durable and more resistant to woodworm.
The time and effort that goes into production means boatbuilders often form a bond with their creations, eventually delivering them to their owners is often bittersweet.
Despite the bleak outlook for his profession's future, another Samos boatbuilder, 45-year-old Andreas Karamanolis, remains hopeful.  
"I believe that people will return to the wooden boat, I want to believe it. Because the truth is, no other boat has the durability of the wooden boat. Not the plastic ones, not any of them," he says.
"Wood is a living organism, which no matter how many years you use it, it continues to be alive, to be working."
For their creators, the their craft's decline is heartbreaking.
"You don't learn this job in a year or two. It takes many years, it is exhausting, and a very detailed one," says retired boatbuilder, Giorgos Tsinidelos.
"Don't forget that you take wood, and you create a masterpiece, a boat," he says.

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