While the dhow is the boat most often associated with the UAE - it appeared on the country’s coat of arms until March 2008 - there is a strong case to be made for the shasha,
Built from palm trees, the shasha was used by fisherman on the east coast until fibreglass boats largely replaced them during the 1970s.
This shasha, piled high with nets and rope, is drawn up on a beach in Kalba, the enclave of Sharjah, in 1969.
The boat is a testament to the local craftsmen and also to the versatility of the palm. Fronds are stripped of their leaves and then soaked in seawater to make them more pliable. The leaves are then woven into to ropes to bind the craft together.
Shasha builders could complete a craft in a day, adding a set of oars made from the branches of Al Sidr treers. The flexibility of the hull made it ideal for riding the ocean swells off Kalba and Fujairah although salt water corrosion meant they generally only had a life of a few months.
The shasha might have entirely vanished but for the efforts Fujairah International Marine Club which holds an annual shasha race. Given that the cost of a new shasha is around Dh3,000, it is a lot more affordable than most other variation of ocean racing.
* James Langton
