Gaiassa

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The Gaiassa or Gyassi was an important type of cargo ship on the Upper Nile .

history

The approximately 25 meters long and five meters wide open flat-bottomed ships with Latin sails resembled the nugger of the lower reaches of the Nile and were sails in different ways. One masters were characterized by a particularly large sail (twice as long as the mast), the more common variants with usually two and in individual cases even three masts carried conventional latin sails. The masts were in turn marked by a band by which one should recognize the owner of the ship. In the predominantly used construction with two masts, these were each far forward and aft to have unobstructed space in the middle. Further characteristics of the Gaiassa were the strikingly large rudder mounted aft (but early specimens had side timing belts) and the wide transom. The boats of the type were mainly used in bulk transport, typical loads consisted of stones, sand, hay or pottery. Until about the middle of the last century one could still find vehicles of this type in everyday use.

literature

  • Kemp, Peter (Ed.): The Oxford Companion to Ships and the Sea . 1st edition. Oxford University Press, Oxford 1976, ISBN 0-19-211553-7 , pp. 365 .

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