Master craftsman calls for help for revival of boat building tradition

It would be a fascinating scene Grand Harbour would make if traditional Maltese boats fitted with sails were to take part in a sailing regatta, retired master craftsman Joseph Mallia feels.

The art of boat building should not be allowed to die out, he said in an interview.

Mr Mallia, whose craft has been passed on to one of his sons, Patrick, 31, appealed to local councils to assist in the revival of the tradition of boat building. Mr Mallia 53, known as il-pakiel, felt tourists should be able to visit workshops where timber boats are built and repaired.

"There is no place in Malta where visitors can see traditional boats being made, or where they can see a collection of the various types of boat that the Maltese have used in the past.

"One can also introduce sailing for locals and visitors, making use of traditional Maltese boats such as the fregatini, which would present a great spectacle."

Mr Mallia's son, Patrick, is currently repairing a xprunara, a coaster with sails for transporting passengers and cargo, the precursor of the dghajsa t'Ghawdex.

The xprunara being repaired, which is about 100 years old, was bought from Pietà.

She is 22 feet long and was used to carry cargo to ships moored in harbour. She has a flat bottom in order to be able to carry merchandise. The larger xprunara, which were about 40 to 45 feet long, made use of sails and oars.

"I want to give a new lease of life to these boats. I plan to build a xprunara complete with sails but I need sponsors to be able to buy the wood, which I cannot afford.

"The sponsors can then make use of the boat as they deem fit. A dghajsa t'Ghawdex is being used to ferry tourists on various tours but there are no xprunari," the young Mr Mallia said.

According to maritime historian Joseph Muscat, a xprunara used to have a tuft of wool on the fore stem which prevented the jib from wearing out by hitting the stem.

The wool is a remnant of a Muslim ritual when Muslim sailors used to slaughter a sheep and pour its blood over a boat that was about to be launched for the first time.

Xprunari were used to ferry cargo and passengers around the Mediterranean.

The spur, hence the name speronora, that extends out of the fore stem has no particular function, Mr Muscat said.

Mr Mallia recalled with nostalgia his early days when, aged five, he started to frequent the workshop of his maternal grandfather, Kieli Aquilina, widely known as ir-Ratal.

Mr Aquilina was a shipwright at the dockyard and he used to make dghajjes tal-pass, the taxi boats.

Mr Mallia picked the trade from his grandfather and from Dwinu Cauchi, one of the master boat builders at Kalkara.

There was a great demand for dghajjes tal-pass before the second world war. It used to take a craftsman a couple of years to build such a boat when most craftsmen made all the parts by hand.

In those days, the selling price was calculated at £1 per foot of boat. A 21-foot boat used to cost £21. But a dghajsa tal-pass would cost more because of the ornate parts in teak which were carved in various motifs. Today, such a taxi boat would cost about Lm2,000.

Other master craftsmen included ta' Pulè; Mastru Cikk who was renowned for making firilli and kajjikki; and Karmenu known as il-Mandrillu who was known for his fregatini.

"The trade has more or less died away because most people now go for fibreglass boats that do not need regular maintenance as wooden boats do.

"Wooden boats have their own appeal, especially watching them being built. It is a work of art.

"Local councils could support boat builders either by ordering a couple of boats from them and selling them at a discount to a cooperative that organises boat trips.

"Tourists would be able also to go on heritage trails with one of the stops on the trail being the boat makers' yard and workshop. Visitors would rather see and board a traditional boat than a fibre glass boat."

In the days when craftsmen could not afford electric-powered tools, wood which was imported as whole tree trunks known as virquni was cut by hand with long saws handled by two men at a time.

The payment, or pizata was sixpence (2c5) per foot. Boats measuring up to 12 feet were made of white deal but beyond that size, red deal was used. White deal dries up fast and one would not really afford to leave a boat on land in warm weather. Red deal would take longer to dry.

Men used to do all sorts of tasks to eke out a living. These included luzzijiet working for lacis, a corruption of the word ashes, that is disposing of ashes from the burning of coal; luzzijiet tal-gadrajja, which were "floating shops" that used to go alongside ships to sell wares, including cigarettes and tea, also known as bum-boat men.

Ships then did not berth alongside the quays. There were also boats called kajjikki tal-kopp that used to dredge the seabed with a metal net attached to a rope to collect coal that had fallen overboard close to the quay.

In those days, coal used to be unloaded by hand in wicker baskets. Others searched the seabed for pieces of metal and copper to fish out and sell to rag and bone shops.

Mr Mallia would like to take photos and make drawings of sailing equipment that was used on traditional Maltese boats. Anyone who can help is asked to phone 21801243.