What is a dhow?
A dhow is the traditional Arabic style Swahili sailing boat. These have been used for centuries all along the East African coast. Their simple construction and square sail belie the fact that they can cover enormous distances, sailing from the horn of Africa, all the way to Mozambique. These boats used to provide the main means of transport between the spice-islands (Zanzibar, Pemba and Lamu) and the prosperous Arabic towns of the coast. Nowadays they are used mainly for fishing, and for transport to the more isolated islands. We also use wood from ‘Ngalau’ for some of our designs. This boat is a small traditional outrigger canoe. They are used for fishing and transport close to the shore and in tidal estuaries along the coast.
