Aga Khan Museum Answers the Question - What is a Dhow?

ANCIENT SHIPBUILDING DESIGN - THE WRECK OF THE LAST DHOW EXHIBITION - AGA KHAN MUSEUM - TORONTO


Model of Dhow  - Aga Khan Museum - photo by George Socka
The Dhow is a traditional one or two masted sailing vessel usually with lateen rigging (slanting, triangular sails) that has been used for two millennia in the Red Sea and the Indian Ocean.

It was constructed of wood.  Boat builders steam-shaped wooden hull planks, roughly 2.5 centimeters thick and between 20 and 50 centimeters wide.  These planks were stitched edge to edge with rope. According to the Aga Khan Museum “wadding was placed under the stitching both inside and outside the hull. A lime-like sealing compound applied to the exterior waterproofed the hull.”

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