Embarcaciones y carpintería de ribera

• Venezuela has a long tradition of boatbuilding that goes back to the start of the 15th century. The quality of Venezuela's artisanal boatbuilding is, probably, one of the best, if not the best, in the whole of Latin America. Today, the carpenters of the Macanao Peninsula build boats of up to 30 m long without using drawings. The construction is so solid that it is quite common for the boats to last for more than 30 years.
• There are four large panels with color photographs showing the complete sequence of boatbuilding processes as practiced by the boat carpenters of Macanao Peninsula, from preparing and cutting the wood right through to launching. These processes are called: "plantado" (setting up), "enmaderado" (ribbing), "entablazón" (planking), caulking, and painting. Certain structures, such as the cabin, can be completed before or after the launching, the most interesting of all the operations, both technically and for the people who come to watch.
• Plantado or "setting up" consists, basically, of setting up the basic elements that will define the main characteristics of the boat: its length, beam, and depth of hold, i.e. the height of the main deck from the keel. These main elements are the keel, which can be in one piece or with joins, and for which a very hard wood, such as carob or oak, is used; the master rib or ribs, which will define the form the sides of the boat will take, and which are, basically, two central ribs plus one other, either in the front or at the rear; the cutwater or stem that will form the front edge of the bow; and the stern post, a vertical pole at the rear chased into the keel that will sustain the boat's stern structure.
• Enmaderado or "ribbing" consists, basically, of working and laying all the ribbing -that is the ribs, with all their associated elements- and the horizontal beams that run athwart joining up the two top ends of each rib and on which the boards rest to form the deck. The ribs are also usually made of very hard wood.
• To define the form or width of each rib, several flexible strips of wood are placed at different levels along the outside of the master ribs running from bow to stern. These strips, called "fasquias" locally, are used as a guide to define the form and dimensions of each rib.
• The distance between the ribs varies, but is generally between 30 and 50 cm. As a model for the final rib, a kind of template is made of strips of light-weight wood. During the "entablado", the planks are placed along the sides of the boat to form the hull, and over the deck beams to form the deck.
• During the caulking phase, the joins between the planks are closed up with oakum and then covered with a kind of putty; the holes that are left after hammering in the bolts or nails that fix the planks to the ribs are treated in the same way. Next, all the joints along the hull and the deck are painted, and then the entire boat is given a general coat of paint.Once the boat is finished, it is launched into the water in a spectacular manoeuver in which a whole crowd of people take part. The boat is rolled along on logs of wood and, as can be seen in one of the photographs, sometimes it is taken through the streets of the village. When the launching is over, there is a big party to celebrate.
• There is a showcase with some examples of the tools used by the boatbuilders. Normally, these tools are the personal property of the boatbuilders and are made by them. There is a template used for measuring the angles that have to be cut in the planks of wood; a compass for drawing curves and taking measurements; a carpenter's gage for marking the width of the planks for cutting; some oakum, used for caulking, and some putty, used to fill in the joins of the planks once they have been caulked; and grooved copper nails. There is also a sailmaker's palm with a metal piece, used to push the needle through the canvas when sewing the sails, as well as a goat's horn with tallow for greasing the needles so that they pass through the canvas easily and to keep them in good condition.
• There is also a collection of scale models of the most typical sailboats that have existed in Venezuela, both those used for cabotage and those used for fishing, as well as some modern motorboats. They are shown in the following order: "zanco", "orejeta", "piragua", "trespuños", "falucho", "goleta", "arrastradora", "atunero", "parguero", "peñero" and "curiara".

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