John, thanks for the narrative. I hope you don't mind my reformatting your text to make it a bit easier to read.
Roy.
NARRATIVE of THE DOCUMENTARY FILM
The junk was built at Bei Tong a fishing village near Tianjin to demonstrate fishing culture and the craftsmanship of junk building to tourists. The government invested to build a junk which had extinct in the area for many
years since 70’s. The project has to be completed before the tourist season in May.
The name of the junk is Men Ding Zhi 门定子because the shape of the boat resemble Chinese silver ingot (ding zhi=ingot). As there was no drawing for construction, the performance and quality of the junk rely totally on the experience and craftsmanship of the shipwright. They invited a 80 year old
Mr Zhao as the shipwright. They didn’t use drawing because no 2 boats are
alike. The size of the boat depended on the amount of timber supplied by the client. A good builder will build the largest boat within the constrain of timber material. Mr Zhao had built 40-50 boats since the 50’s. His assistants are over 60 now. There are 3 major steps:
1. hull construction,
2.grouting,
3.rigging.
Mendingzhi have very low center of gravity therefore very safe. She is most suitable for shallow mud flat water in the region. The day of laying the keel is considered the birthday of the boat. The boat is like a family member. They lit firecracker and ate noodle to pray for longevity.
The boat is 12.6m LOA, 4.4m width with 7 watertight compartments namely:
1.bow 蒙头舱(ropes)
2.water 水舱
3.net 网舱
4.elephant nose象鼻舱(ballast)
5.horse door马门舱(catch)
6.home家舱(cooking)
7.stern后bao舱.
The 2 lower hull board are 5 cm thick the upper 3 boards gunwale are 8 cm
thick. New timber with moisture are used for the curved part. The most critical part is to cut out the required plank from timber log respecting the wood grain. This will affect the strength of the plank.
A god shipwright is judged by
1.economic use of material
2.boat stability
3.boat speed
4.firmness & durability of the boat.
Happy Wood (Xi Mu)喜木is the topmost timber at the bow with coins embedded. Installation of Happy Wood signified the completion of the hull. Grouting is called Nian Chuan 艌船. The grout is made of lime, tung oil and
jute fiber.
The process include
1.oiling the wood 上油
2.cutting slot 开缝
3.apply grout 抹灰
4.position jute 下麻
5.hammer jute into slot 艌麻
6.twisting jute 收麻
7.final trimming jute 铲攒嚼活.
In addition to waterproofing the gap, the grout actually function in binding the wood fibers together to make the hull more durable. The grouting worker is difficult to find nowadays. The youngest grouting worker is aged over 50. They sang a song to synchronize the hammering at the same time. There are different blunt and sharp chisel tools. FRP was applied to the bottom to increase durability. The main mast is 13m tall.