“Clinker” or “carvel” ?
Clinker work is essentially a “shell-type” of construction. (Christensen, 1968, 12) This is, the planks or ‘skin’(as referred to in boating terminology) form the most important structural element of the hull. Figure 2.10 shows the shape of the planks required in the construction of a clinker-built vessel. A clinker-built boat is made in the following fashion, first the keel and stems are cut and assembled. The planks are then fitted one by one starting from the keel. They overlap slightly and are held together with iron rivets or with treenails or as Christensen (1968, 14) identified may be sewn together with cord. The strength of the vessel lies largely in this shell consisting of keel, stems and ‘skin’. The ‘ribs’, which support and hold the shell together, are not added until the shell is completed. Carvel work in contrast, is based on a ‘skeleton’ principle and the method of work is very different from that employed in clinker work. When the keel and the stems have been assembled, a sturdy skeleton of ribs is bolted to the keel. When all the ribs are in place, they are covered with planks, which lie edge to edge and are bolted to the ribs. (Hassolof, 1957, 52) The boat becomes watertight only when the seams have been ‘caulked’ with ‘oakum’ and melted ‘pitch’. For this reason the planks have to be thicker than those of a clinker-built craft of the same size. A carvel-built boat is therefore heavier than a clinker-built vessel and for this reason it is solid and well suited to carrying heavy loads at sea. (Hassolof, 1957, 56) According to Christensen (1968, 13) both ends of traditional Scandinavian boats are usually pointed making the ‘forepart’ and the ‘hindpart’ of the boat similar. Greenhill (1976, 178) remarks that in most other parts of the world boats are built with a marked difference between the prow and stern. However the Scandinavian tradition of clinker-built boats has been found all over Europe and the Irish dimension will be discussed later.
