Page 54 - Журнал Sozvezdye Review - «СОЗВЕЗДИЕ» #36

over the hull known as buoyno) but was found by
Butorin suitable for going on a voyage so frequently
attempted by his ancestors on their way to the polar
Russian city of Mangazeya.
Peril awaited the two navigators everywhere: the
4,000 long route ran through the Arctic ice. It would
be difficult to think of a better proof of the high sea-
worthiness of the Pomor karbas. By the way, that
voyage of 1967 made the headlines in many Soviet
and some foreign media.
The majority of Pomor karbasses were small
fishing boats with a capacity for four to ten people.
Therefore, they are most often referred to as small
vessels. However, the 20th-century settlements on
the banks of the Mezen and Kuloy were known to
build huge karbasses for the collective farms, de-
signed to carry dozens of tons of cargo and sever-
al dozen passengers. Karbass making technologies
differed from locality to locality. In some Pomor vil-
lages, for example Koida, it was customary to use
steamed spruce bars for frameworks, while Dolgosh-
chelye village the frameworks, as well as the stern-
posts would be made of natural crooked timber of
the root part of the spruce, which were believed to
Несмотря на низкие борта катера, give hulls special strength and increased service life.
маленький «соломбалец» прекрасно Local differences emerged in karbass design in
зарекомендовал себя во время response to its economic use. The lines, dimensions
and other design features differ significantly in dif-
сильнейших штормов на Северной щие по разным странам ferent districts of Arkhangelsk Oblast. Despite one
Двине и в Белом море мира, с восторгом опи- common name, there exist many different versions of
сывают свои впечатле-
Despite its low sides, the small ния от увиденных ими the Pomor karbass. For example, the light “approach”
karbass originating from the Murmansk village of
Solombala karbass has proven itself реплик старых деревян- Umba would be an unwise choice for navigating in
reliable during the strongest storms on the ных судов в Норвегии, the waves and currents in the mouth of the Kuloy
Нидерландах, Англии,
River, where it is better to use local karbasses from
Northern Dvina and in the White Sea Франции… «Вот бы и Mezen Distirct’s village of Dolgoshchelye.
нам так!» – нередко го-
ворят они. Sewn boats
При этом в первом морском торговом порту
России городе Архангельске стремительно ухо- Before the onset of the motor-powered era, the
дят в прошлое традиции постройки морских кар- clinker system of the majority of karbasses would
басов и замечательных соломбальских катеров. be sewn using juniper and spruce roots harvested in
Здесь никто не предложит туристам прокатиться May and June, known as vichya. With the emergence
по узким каналам островной Соломбалы на ре- of outboard motors, the plank boards had to be fas-
плике поморского карбаса или на уютном дере- tened with metal rivets to avoid vibration. However,
вянном катерке-«соломбальце». И это неправиль- the native carpenters of Pomorland still use the work
но… Остается надеяться, что общими усилиями “sow” when referring to boat construction process.
горожан и властей деревянный поморский флот Back in the mid-20th century, almost every Po-
Поморья однажды получит свою долю признания mor settlement in the Arkhangelsk Oblast had crafts-
и будет сохранен для потомков. men skilled in manufacture of customized sea-going
karbasses. Karbasses would be made in local furni-
Across the deep three seas ture-making shops that produced, alongside cabinets
and chairs, good sea boats. For example, in the vil-
Few know that for centuries the main and most lage of Umba on the White Sea coast, there exist-
popular type of Pomor Arctic-going boats was kar- ed a production under the official name of “Karbass
bass, not koch, used by local fishermen and seal and Furniture Shop”. At the same time, many Pom-
hunters. It was onboard this small boat, karbass, ors continued to “sow” boats independently, based on
that many pioneering discoveries were attempted in personal needs and local features of navigation. Alas,
the Russian Arctic. For their light weight, karbasses today the old Pomor settlements are being aban-
would be used on larger cargo koches as safety boats. doned and there are very few karbass makers left.
An indisputable proof of the high seaworthiness The Pomor karbass is a product of centuries-old
of the Pomor karbas was produced by the Arctic ex- evolution of artisanal Pomor shipbuilding and has
pedition of 1967 under the leadership of the Mezen- several modifications. This small-sized rowing
born Dmitry Butorin. The vessel going under the Po- or sailing-rowing boat with one or two masts was
mor name of Schelya left Arkhangelsk Yacht Club on the most common rural type of wooden sea boats
May 14, 1967 and arrived safely at the mouth of the until the end of the twentieth century. The pinna-
Mangazeika River on August 20, which flows into cle of Pomor karbass evolution is the wooden mo-
SOZVEZDYE #36 the West Siberian River Taz. Over the three months tor-driven boat that had gained a great popularity
of that summer, Mikhail Butorin and his partner among the northerners. In Soviet times, with many
Mikhail Skorokhodov had passed through the ice inhabitants of the Pomor settlements in the estuary
наследие of the White, Barents and Kara Seas, dragging their of the Northern Dvina, such boat was like a family
legacy karbass over the land of two peninsulas – Kanin and car. They used it for sea fishing and reaching remot-
Yamal.
er places for mushroom and berry picking, among
For the purpose of that voyage, Butorin retrofit- other purposes.
ted an old but very strong six-meter Pomor karbass, The first motor boats appeared in Arkhangelsk
built in the village of Dolgoshchelye back in 1927. In in the 1920s. When foreign boats appeared in the
addition to the traditional sail, Butorin installed her port of Arkhangelsk, local craftsmen quickly real-
52 with a 12 HP diesel engine. His karbass did not have ized that their “sewn” counterparts were a similar
a deckhouse (instead, a canvas canopy was stretched and a way cheaper option. They used as design basis