and i say row, jimmy, row, gonna get there, i don't know

     In October, there is Boun Nam (water festival) also called Boun Suang Heua (boat racing festival). Many villages from around the country, build boats, and have boat races in the larger towns. The small village where I lived, built three boats for this years festival, and will be raced in the Lao capital, Vientianne, as well as Pakse and Si Phan Don (4000 islands). I had a chance to watch the building of these boats at the villages wat, Wat Luang Kao. The process took about four weeks, and I went to the wat every few days to watch the boat-building process.

     The longest boat was 24 meters long, and I watched the tree’s main beam coming down the road and into the wat. The tree was cut on the nearest island in the Mekong river, Don Daeng, and was cut into a squarish beam before transport. One end of the beam was attached to a lao tractor, and the tractor’s cart was placed in the middle of the beam. The villagers came out to watch this, and the atmosphere was festive! The tree was brought into the wat and lifted off the cart. The next day the chain saw came out, with a rip chain, and the beam was cut, freehand, all 24 meters. This was amazing to me, after my years working as a ripsaw operator with precise, technical machinery. This beam was cut freehand with a chainsaw!!!

     I watched the beam take shape using an electric hand-held jigsaw, and an electric sander. Measurements were made, and curves developed.

     The ribs were cut with a jigsaw and sanded into shape. These were screwed onto the bottom beam.

     The boat sides were cut, again freehand, using a rip chain on a small chainsaw. These were attached to the ribs with screws.

     The gaps between the boards were filled with caulk and the entire boat was sanded, inside and out, before installing seats.

     The boat was turned upside down and coated with, of all things, automotive bondo! Traditionally, a tree sap is used to fill the gaps of a boat. The sap hardens and is flexible enough to deal with the expanding wood as the boat is submerged in water. I was a bit disappointed to see gallon jugs of bondo being applied to make an outer shell.

     The entire boat was sanded again and the top rails were installed, voila, one boat complete! the last thing to do would be to paint. Last years boat is the painted one, alongside, in the background.