Irwin Schuster sent me some photos of an Atchafalaya Basin piroque he found in in the Peabody-Essex Museum in Salem, MA.
The forward rowing platform seems cumbersome in contrast with the beautiful lines of the piroque.
A friend once told me that the defining characteristic of a piece of art is whether you can live with it.
This is a boat I could live with but I would sit down to row, if only to eliminate the rowing stanchion.
Small matter how it's rowed with a craft as sweet as this. Put this one down on the list of boats Doryman wants to build.
Hi, DoryMan
ReplyDeleteThe louisiana boat in your blog is similar to a pirogue, but is referred to as a Rowing Skiff. The man pictured standing in the boat is Keith Felder from Denham Springs louisiana, who i think is still active in Louisiana Boat building. As far as the way the skiff is rowed here is a quote from Raymond Sedotol a boat builder from Pierre Part, Assumption Parish
"A Cajun doesn't want to row backwards.
He wants to know where he's going,
not where he's been."
Sincerely, Russell J Bland
Thank you, Russell
ReplyDeleteKeith is indeed still active. I found his website:
http://www.keithspirogues.com/home
I agree with Raymond's sentiment. Always better to look to the future, while remembering the past, so as to not make the same mistakes twice.