[MR] BBC: 5th C. Sewn Boat Reconstruction

[Garth Groff and Sally Sanford]

Noble Friends,

Today the BBC is offering a feature about the INSV Kaundinya, a replica 5th
century CE Indian sailing vessel.

The Kaundinya is an experimental archaeology project on steroids. The ship
was designed from paintings depicted on the walls of the Ajanta caves in
Western India. It was built without iron nails or other metal fastenings,
but rather is stitched together using rope made from coconut fibers. The
Kaundinya has no motor, being entirely driven by sails. The ship was named
for a legendary 1st Century Indian mariner.

After a brief coastal shake-down cruise, the ship left Porbandar, India on
29 December on a 17-day cruise to Muscat, Oman, following an ancient trade
route between Indian and the Middle East. The Kaundinya was crewed by
officers and men from the Indian Navy, which was partly responsible for the
vessel's construction.

The BBC story with a video clip is found at
https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cwyn15110gvo .

More about the Kaundinya is at https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/INSV_Kaundinya.

The Kaundinya is similar to another replica, the Jewel of Muscat:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jewel_of_Muscat .

Sew boats were also built in Europe. One example is the Hjortspring boat, a
pre-Roman Iron age war canoe discovered in Denmark in the 1920s:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hjortspring_boat .

Yours Aye,

Mungo Napier, Laird of Mallard Lodge  🦆
Continuing a crusade to keep the original Merry Rose relevant and in
business.