Gabriel Descends From Heaven

Crtd 05-11-20 Lastedit 14-08-20

Gabriel is his name. He is in his early thirties.
A reverend.
Reverend Gabriel of the parish of Lyegoba, a small island in Lake Victoria near the East shore, at the border between Tanzania and Kenya.
African Inland Church.
That island must be Heaven because Gabriel came down from it.

I went for a covert inspection of the hull on Sunday. They are Christians there, so on Sundays there is nobody. But I found the yard in full action. My top board collar (pindo) almost finished.

I had given them a drawing to show them how to make decks at split levels without having to support them with piles resting on the bottom frames:

But this only led to very confused conversations. So I had made a matches-and-cardboard model:

Photo: model of split level decks with hatch opening

This construction was implemented perfectly (see photo below, a local traditional dhow has no decks, so this is a new thing to them, named English "deki" in Kiswahili). The stern (tezi) was two massive (almost 3 by 20 inch) planks up with a middle beam.

Photo: dhow yard workers on Sunday! The "split" of my matches-and-cardboard model implemented. See total design.

I looked at it approvingly.
When will you have finished the hull? I asked Daniel in Kiswahili.
Tomorrow or the day after, Daniel (second from right) replied in Kiswahili, looking hesitant at the men left.
It is better to say next week Monday, the man left said. In English.
After a silence to recover from my surprise, I said: yes, Daniel, it is a good idea to concentrate on doing your job well, like that man says, because if the inspectors require repairs, you will lose more time afterwards.
I said goodbye, regretting I did not introduce myself to the guy.
After turning my car, Daniel came running to me: the man needed a lift to town.
I planned to see Feleshi, who lives near, but now decided to leave that for later.
He entered. His name is Gabriel. He is a half brother of Daniel. The same father. All his children learned the trade of dhow building. But Gabriel later got educated as a reverend by the African Inland Church. He had a week off. Daniel had told him about his problem and he decided to help.
We exchanged addresses, I told him I would certainly anchor at his island once my dhow would be finished and I dropped him at the Mwanza African Inland Parish building.

Photo: Greeneye in my Maasai blanket,
got lazy from always winning the "looks" contest

Greetings Home

Previous Greeting

Next Greeting

Previous Dhow Logbook

Next Dhow Logbook