Records of Traditional Watercraft from South and West Sri Lanka

Sailing a Sinhalese Outrigger Logboat

“…1), in January 2010 brought me the opportunity of sailing on a sprit‐sailed issaň‐oru (prawn boat) (Fig. 2) of the type described by Gerhard Kapitän (2009: 80–93). This allows me to supplement Kapitän's record and to revise my own contribution to that volume (2009: 178–81), in particular my assessment of the windward ability of the issaň‐oru and the drill its crew use for going about.…”

Models as Evidence for Sewn‐boat Traditions

“…Oru have been discussed and ethnographically recorded in multiple publications, mainly since the mid 20th century (for example Hornell, 1943;Vitharaṇ a, 1992;Kapitän et al, 2009;Grainge, 2012). Interestingly, the models largely pre-date these studies with the majority ranging from the mid 19th to the early 20th century.…”

“…This suggests that the models were made in a way that shows the model-maker knew, in detail, how the full-size vessels were made, and this has been portrayed with precision in miniature. In addition to continuous stitches, the models feature gunwales lashed to the washstrakes with isolated stitches; a construction method used on full-size oru according to ethnographic records and descriptions (for example Vitharaṇ a, 1992; Kapitän et al, 2009) and other pictorial sources (such as postcards and photographs).…”

“…Such variations in detail are indicative of different types of oru, thus making these models useful aids in understanding differences in, and the range of, these vessels. Moreover, the author has not identified the bench, which is present on the majority of the models, in ethnographic studies of the vessel (such as Vitharaṇ a, 1992; Kapitän et al, 2009). Before the introduction of breakwaters and harbours, such as the breakwater in Colombo built between 1874 and 1876 (Mills, 2012: 245), oru were used to transport passengers from large ships to the shore (Edye, 1834: 5).…”

“…Sewn boats from Sri Lanka, including oru and madel paru, have been recorded and studied in 20th century publications such as Gerhard Kapitän's Records of Traditional Watercraft from South and West Sri Lanka, which included multiple descriptions, photographs, and technical scaled drawings of watercraft in use in Sri Lanka in the 1980s (Kapitän et al, 2009). The majority of studies of Sri Lankan watercraft were published in the late 20th century, but there are some earlier sources, particularly regarding oru, that can be used as comparative material.…”