The World Of Twilight

I was looking at possible ways the Fubarnii might build boats and ships, most of the early vessels from our world relied on big, heavy timbers from large trees that would be difficult for the Fubarnii to obtain without venturing deep into the forests of Anyaral (which they don't do). So, it occurred to me that they probably use hide or skin boats - probably something akin to a coracle for use on rivers by fishing, but bigger ones for cargo handling and for use at sea. The hide is probably sealed with resin on a light framework (heavy laminated framework for bigger craft, reinforced with laminated wood and cloth), with ballast stones in the bottom for stability. The bigger ones probably look a bit like the viking knarr, wide rounded hulls with cargo space, but probably not a keel, so any sails would probably be on an A-frame mast rather than a single, central pole.

I can't see Fubarnii liking little hide-covered boats - they don't even like water!

Picturing them all strapping themselves to floatables lol.

Surely Fubarnii would dig a tunnel under a body of water rather than try to cross it ?

Yeah, lol! Sounds odd, doesn't it?
But - we already know that the Fubarnii do use boats on rivers, lakes and even the (admittedly, coastal) seas, so I thought that hide boats coated with resin over a slightly lighter wooden framework was a logical conclusion - they're very stable on rivers and seas if you ballast them a bit, very manouevrable and seaworthy - hide boats were used in our bronze age all over the world and still survive today in the American Indian canoe and the Irish coracle (which could easily cross the Irish sea). Bronze age ones ranged from these up to big cargo carrying ones, that probably traded along the coasts and rivers of Europe.

i understood they made rafts? in fact they once floated a whole city that way

i was looking at ways of making planked boat hulls using the laser cutting approach for the buildings but mike said they didn't use hulls

Really? I didn't see that. Oh, well - guess thats that idea then! If they go to sea in rafts, they're a lot braver than I thought, lol!

Did I say they don't use hulls? That's odd as I've got some sketches of boats with hulls...
Fubarnii don't like water as they can't swim and have a particular fear of drowning. They do have bridges and boats though, and resin soaked hides sound like a good material.

Oh right, sounds good! The reason I came up with it is the fact that you'd need a lot of big trees to make a planked hull and for that, you'd need to go quite a way into the forests, which is another thing the fubarnii don't do.
Can I ask if the resin is from boiled-down garkrid (I think the idea was mentioned a while ago)? Because that would be a major trade item for the boatbuilding industry.

I may have misunderstood regarding hulls then?
Wouldn't be the first time!!

It isn't beyond the Fubarnii to grow relatively fast growing trees that could be harvested to give good planks of wood, but given the generally faster pace of life for Fubarnii the wood is expensive, and alternatives are used.

Garkrid resin is used extensively for boat building and other purposes. Garkrid farms are found in many regions, but some clans do specialise in specific types and qualities of resin. Teral resin, specifically that produced by the Garili family, is regarded as being particularly fine for boat building purposes due to its high resistance to salt water and aquatic life. Quality does of course come at a price, but given that other resins have proved less resistant (leading to several tragedies, including the death of a former leader of the Larigal clan) that price is generally seen to be worth it.

Dunno why, perhaps it's the faster lifecycle but I always imagined them more "reed-boaty" in style. Very quick to grow and harvest and usually waterproofed with tar or resins (if waterproofed at all).

I imagined them having done the "reed boaty" thing, then moved on to something better. The good thing about reed boats is that you don't need to waterproof them, the bad things are that they're bulky, you need a lot more material than for other types and they only grow in certain areas (the ones good for boats anyway),so it might only have been a southern thing, plus they don't last as long - couple of years and it's rotting away, but a well-built hide boat could outlast a fubarnii (you can replace the hide covering more easily).