Des charpentiers qui naviguent sur la mer et en imagination

Abstract

Seaworthiness is the main quality expected of a ship. So how do shipwrights go about designing and building boats adapted to the marine element in which they would be operating? Based on the testimonies of wooden boatbuilders gathered in the course of an ethnography carried out in French shipyards, this article details the ways, thought by these craftsmen, in which this know-how is built up with and for the elements. Whether through direct experience of navigation, listening to sailors or simply observing hulls on the shore, there are many ways for shipwrights to grasp the marine element.

Keywords

• shipwrights
• wooden boatbuilding
• sailing
• marine element
• maritime culture