Nugger

The nugger or nuggar was an important type of cargo ship on the lower Nile .

history

The approximately 25 meters long and five meters wide open flat-bottomed ships with Latin sails resembled the Gaiassa of the upper course of the Nile. The most common variants with usually two masts led latex sails. The front sail was considerably larger than that of the rear mast, which acted more as a control sail. Further characteristics of the Nugger were a relatively steep bow, which was supposed to protect against short seas of wind caused by sudden gusts of wind from the desert, the wide transom and the noticeably large rudder attached to the aft (early specimens had side timing belts). The boats of the type were mainly used in the bulk transport of stones, sand, hay or pottery. Typical trips have been made downstream with grain loads from the south and return trips up the stream with finished goods from the north. 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. 608/609 .