Unit 12   An Ancient Form of Transportation – the Canoe

Author: Ching-Lin Hung(洪清林)  Translator:Gloria Fung

        Penghu is the only island county in Taiwan that is surrounded by the sea.  It is made up of close to one hundred islands and rocky reefs of many sizes.  The island group covers an area in the sea of approximately 60 km from the south to the north, and about 40 km from the east to the west.  The Tropic of Cancer passes through the sea between the islands of Hujiang (虎井)and Wang-an(望安).  The northernmost island is Mudouyu (目斗嶼), the easternmost island is Jhamouyu (查某嶼), the southernmost is Cimei (七美嶼) and the westernmost is Huayu (花嶼). Although the total land area of the islands is 127 square km, the coastline measures 320 km – it is longer than the coastline of the main island of Taiwan by 120 times per unit area and is at the top of the list in all of Taiwan. There are sandy beaches with sand that is white as snow; there are also impressive basalt columns along the shore.  In such a varied coastal environment, there is the need for means of transportation between the islands, for bringing in supplies for the communities and the trading of marine products.  Marine transportation is of great importance to the residents of the islands.  Today, we call this form of transportation a “boat.”  With advances in technology, most boats these days are powered by machinery; but, what about before the coming of machines?  “Wind” – that is right.  Human cleverness taught us to go to nature; however, what about before man even learned to use wind power?  Human power – this is the correct answer.  This is a basic human instinct; but, how does human power move a ship?

        Let us take a look at the development of the boat in human history.  In ancient times, most people lived in communities near water.  To have greater mobility, it was necessary to move on water in order to carry out activities such as fishing and transportation.  Man found that wood was a material that would not sink in water and he thought of a way of making use of  it – which was, cutting it in two and hollowing out the centre.  That was how the canoe came to be!  It’s possible that at first man just got into the canoe and sailed with the current; later, they used branches as oars in order to move more quickly, or even to change the course.  With the development of human civilization, there came rafts made of animal skins, hulls made from joining pieces of wood, and metal hulls.  The number of people needed to handle these craft also increased from one to many.  These have been great changes indeed.

        Following the course of history, the tools for making a living – canoes or rafts of sheepskin, etc, which could be controlled by one man -- were slowly replaced by big boats that required many persons and machines, and canoes slowly faded in human memory.  In 1862 C.
E. (Common Era), an Englishman, John Macgregor, using the boats of the Inuit and Native Americans as a model, built a canoe that was 15 feet long, 30 feet wide.  He named the boat “Rob Roy;” later, he improved the design and built “Rob Roy II.”  He sailed in his canoe in all the rivers and lakes of Northern and Western Europe, even as far as the Nile, River Jordan and the shores of the Baltic Sea.  This sparked the world’s interest in canoeing.  For this reason, Macgregor is known as “Father of the Modern Canoe.”

        After 1900, most countries in Europe had accepted the canoe.  In Great Britain and the United States, many canoeing clubs and organizations were established.  On January 20, 1924, Austria, Germany, Denmark and Sweden formed the Internationalen Representation fur Kanusport，IRK in Copenhagen.  In the same year, canoeing became a demonstration sport in the Paris Olympics.  In 1936, canoeing was listed as a competitive sport in the Berlin Olympics; from that time on, canoeing has remained one of the full-medal sports of the Olympics.  In 1972, in the Munich Olympics, the canoe/kayak slalom was added.  Canoeing has gained worldwide attention and has slowly gone from a competitive sport to a recreational sport.

        The continuous improvement in canoe-building techniques and the use of new materials meant that glass-reinforced plastics and fiberglass materials came to be used in canoe-building.  This has greatly improved the safety and handling of the canoe.  As a result, there has been rapid development in canoeing.

        Today, there are two kinds of canoeing: competitive canoeing and recreational canoeing.  In competitive canoeing, there are two kinds of craft: K craft (kayak) and C craft (canoe). Kayaks are closed boats paddled from a sitting position with a double-blade paddle.  Canoes are open boats paddled from a kneeling position with a single-blade paddle.  Other canoeing accessories include a footrest, knee pads, belts and float bags.  The footrest ensures there is sufficient leverage when paddling, the knee pads and belts provide greater comfort for the rower; the float bags ensure that in case of overturning, the canoe will remain floating and will not sink when water enters it.

        Personal accessories necessary for handling the canoe include the paddle (it enables the canoe to move forward when sliced through the water; depending on the type of canoe used, it may be single or double blade), spray skirt (which prevents water from entering the cockpit), life jacket (for safety considerations, the life jacket must have a minimum buoyancy of 6 kg.), helmet (to protect the head from injuries), waterproof clothing (they must be waterproof and warm), water booties with slip protection, and rope (for rescue when someone falls from the boat into the water).

        Even when you have all the equipment necessary, before you can enjoy the recreational activity of canoeing, you must first learn all the basic control skills such as the forward stroke, reverse stroke, stopping, draw stroke, sculling draw, forward sweep stroke, bow rudder, reverse sweep stroke, balance, and roll.  Of course, you need to practice these skills repeatedly in order to use them with confidence.

        Are there places in Penghu where one can go canoeing? In Penghu, in winter the north-north-east monsoon blows really hard; in addition, the land does not provide much shelter from the winds; in summer, typhoons and their outlying circulation also affect Penghu.  Statistics tell us that each year for about a hundred days there are high winds in Penghu.  In addition, waves, tides and ocean currents are also forces we must pay attention to when carrying out activities on water.  At present, a group of canoeing enthusiasts have set up a canoeing area in an abandoned fishing compound in Cingluo Village in Husi in an attempt to popularize canoeing.  In the evening in summer, canoes flying over the water is a common sight in the Cingluo Wetlands. Not only can we see the traditional “Big Eye” boat making an appearance, we can also look forward to the coming of “Big Eye II.”  There are also many other kinds of lightweight boats waiting for rowers.