/ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT/SPORT-UAE: Traditional Sailing Flows with the Times

By IPS Correspondents Reprint | | Print |

Meena Janardhan

DUBAI, Feb 19 2002 (IPS) - Standing by the seashore, 75-year-old Abul Kaleem Ahmed gazes wistfully at the high-powered motorboats that tear across the waters.

“When I was young,” says he, “all these fancy boats didn’t exist. But that is not to say that we were backward in any way. For our ‘dhows’ (traditional Arab boats) had such beauty, grace and power that I am sure we could outdo a few of these modern ones if we wanted to.”

Abul’s words echo the clash between tradition and modernity that exists in all cultures. But in the United Arab Emirates (UAE), all efforts are being made to ensure that traditions are kept alive for the younger generations to understand and enjoy.

‘Dhow’ sailing has been an effective proponent of Arab culture and, today, traditional dhow sailing keeps Arab youth in touch with their rich heritage even as they look towards the future.

The sea has had an immense role to play in the history of the UAE. Before the discovery of oil, this country depended on maritime trade and activities to sustain its economy and its people.

Ancient Arab traders used ‘dhows’, with ‘lateen’ sails (a highly effective triangular sail developed by the Arabs) for their voyages along the coasts of Arabia, India, and Eastern Africa.

‘Dhows’ were also used for pearl diving and fishing trips. As pearling in the UAE dwindled, so did the use of these enchanting boats that fought the winds with their sails and carried their masters on trade and fishing expeditions.

‘Dhows’ are of different kinds and sizes. The length of a traditional ‘dhow ‘ could vary from 22-60 feet.

What is definite however is its depth, which could not exceed 3.5 feet. It also cannot weigh less than 2,200 kilogrammes, inclusive of the hull and non-removable parts. Among the more popular ‘dhows’ are the 22-, 43- and 60-feet types.

“The ‘dhow’ was a multi-purpose boat used for pearl diving and passenger transportation as well,” explains Awadh Al Sheghayer, manager of missions and events at Dubai’s Department of Tourism and Commerce Marketing. “These days, the traditional boats have been replaced by state-of-the-art high-speed modern boats and old ‘dhows’ are rarely seen at sea,” he adds.

But to keep the ‘dhow’ tradition alive, various clubs across the UAE — the Emirates Heritage Club and the Dubai International Marine Club (DIMC), for example – organise ‘dhow’ sailing races. In fact, more and more nationals are taking up this sport today.

According to Saeed Hareb, the club’s managing director, “The younger generation need to understand their traditions and how difficult it was for their forefathers to sail under varying wind and sea conditions.”

“Our efforts have been very successful — we started these races with only two ‘dhows’, now we have 75 of them, which are sailed mostly by youngsters and families. This goes to show that the youth have learnt to appreciate a valuable part of our culture,” he says.

In fact, entire families in the UAE are taking up ‘dhow’ sailing. They are even designing the boats and sails, and while they improve on older styles, they still retain the traditional formalities that are required of them.

‘Dhow’ sailing also helps bridge the gap between generations, and allows young and old work together to come up with traditional and yet modern ‘dhows’ to join races.

Mohammed Iqbal, a resident of Dubai who looks barely out of his teens, grins in excitement as he jumps down from his ‘dhow’ after winning a tough race recently.

“It’s amazing how the ‘dhows’ respond to the sea and the wind,” he gushes. “It is as if they have a life of their own. And as I stand at the helm steering the billowing sails toward the shore, the experience is exhilarating. I’d like to do this everyday.”

Adds Sareed, “As organisers, we are happy to see the numbers increase. We are in fact already having problems coping with the growth. We never thought that this could happen. We are happy to see the youth imbibe this tradition for it teaches them be independent and interdependent at the same time. ”

Exhibitions are also held regularly to showcase the kind of boats and tools used in the past, because even in an age that was far from technological innovations, building a ‘dhow’ was an art in itself.

The few existing ‘dhows’ today provide conclusive evidence of one of the most ancient crafts practised in the Emirates. Traditional ‘dhow’ builders, found mostly in Bateen in Abu Dhabi, Ajman and Umm Al Quwain, are noted for their ability to work entirely without plans, judging everything by experience and sensitivity.

Says the 75year-old Abul, “If you were to see one of the earlier dhows now, the old handcrafted timber hulls would still smell faintly of fish oil and shine like a well-preserved antique.”

“Run your hands along the boat and you will barely be able to feel the joints between the meticulously crafted planks, whose ends were secured by date-palm rope fibre. It was only later that we started using nails. And we would use only teak. Building a ‘dhow’ could take four months or even up to a year – we left no stone unturned to make it totally seaworthy and strong,” he narrates.

Spurred by the growing interest in ‘dhow’ sailing, the UAE government is all set to open the Emirates Sailing School at Al Samaliah island, off Abu Dhabi, where it will train nationals in other modern water sports as well.

But it is not just in sports that the tradition is kept alive. ‘Dhows’ are used even today for ferrying cargo from the UAE to other countries.

According to the Ports, Customs and Free Zone Corporation, a total of 7,116 dhows carried 131,000 tonnes of goods on the Dubai Creek last year. That year too, 12,208 ‘dhows’ left Dubai Creek carrying 4 million tonnes of goods to Iran, Somalia, Kuwait, Yemen, India, Pakistan, and the Gulf Cooperation Council countries.