Posted on 10/09/2020 8:50:28 AM PDT by SJackson
Hong Kong's last authentic junk boat is struggling to stay afloat due to a lack of overseas tourists.
The Dukling normally takes foreign visitors on scenic trips around its bays but these have dried up due to travel restrictions.
Its owner says it is fighting to survive and having to focus on local citizens during the downturn.
Junk boats have a long history in the former British colony dating back to the Han Dynasty.
"The Dukling is the icon of Hong Kong, I am not only running a business on it, I am trying to maintain this treasurable piece of antique for Hong Kong," owner Hazen Tang told the BBC.
"We keep struggling to survive, and we will survive in this tough year," he added.
The Dukling is believed to be the last authentic junk boat left in Hong Kong's waters. Other junks exist but they are replicas.
Its biggest market was overseas tourists but has now swapped its focus onto local Hong Kong citizens during the Covid-19 pandemic.
"We treated it as a new opportunity for us to focus more on our local market. We always hope to have more local people to experience a ride on our antique junk," added Mr Tang.
New routes have been extended beyond cruising around Victoria Harbour to local residential areas. And the onboard commentary has also changed.
"Now we focus more on introducing the history of Hong Kong and the olden days when fishermen lived on the boats."
Mr Tang and his crew hope things will pick up in the first quarter of next year if they can survive until then.
"We humans should always learn from the boats. We cannot control the direction of the wind but we can adjust our sail."
(Excerpt) Read more at bbc.com ...
In general, to be authentic, you have to use same materials the methods the old masters used to build it, right down to their methods of carpentry.
Replicas use modern materials and modern methods of building it. It just looks the same.
Authentic junk boats probably have a certification that says they are authentic.
Lol. “Hong Kong junk” could mean a lot of things. Just about everything out of China seems to be junk.
” can’t help but wonder why a junk built in 1955 is authentic, but one built in 1970 would be a copy.”
It was originally put into service as a fishing boat. The others were built for tourism.
Maybe the CCP will “keep it afloat”, money-wise if they think it’ll be a good ROI.
But the Hong Kong the world knew for a hundred years no longer exists, HK citizens had the rug pulled out from under them.
I once asked a guide at the WW2 museum in NOLA about the difference between a restoration and a replica. If it still has the original nameplate, it’s a restoration, he said.
All joking aside several years ago I toured the shop where they were restoring PT-305, a Higgins-built boat. Learned that rather than plywood for the hull, they used two layers of mahogany planks, with a layer of canvas between them.
https://www.nationalww2museum.org/visit/pt-305
Unfortunately you’re right, but it was coming in a couple decades anyway.
That would make sense
Interesting. I wonder if that helps save them from having to swab the deck, to keep the wood wet?
Yeah, they were living on borrowed time. Sad thing, though.
Higgins Industries used mahogany because he had a big supply of it. He originally was a lumber importer.
https://www.govtrack.us/congress/bills/107/s991/text
S. 991 (107th): Andrew Jackson Higgins Gold Medal Act
2) Andrew Jackson Higgins designed, engineered, and produced the ‘Eureka’, a unique shallow draft boat, the design of which evolved during World War II into 2 basic classes of military craft, high speed PT boats, and types of Higgins landing craft (LCPs, LCPLs, LCVPs, LCMs and LCSs);
(3) Andrew Jackson Higgins designed, engineered, and constructed 4 major assembly line plants in New Orleans for mass production of Higgins landing craft, and other vessels vital to the Allied Forces’ conduct of World War II;
(4) Andrew Jackson Higgins bought the entire 1940 Philippine mahogany crop and other material purely at risk without a Government contract, anticipating that America would join World War II and that Higgins Industries would need the wood to build landing craft, and Higgins also bought steel, engines, and other material necessary to construct landing craft;
The economy is like a fully loaded B-17. It does not respond instantly to control stick input. It’s current attitude is based on what you input erlier, and what you are inputting NOW will not show up for a while.
The world’s economy is a dead economy walking. We killed it beginning in April. It is continuing it’s downward spiral, and we haven’t even started pulling up on the stick yet.
Well, Sweden has, but as the rest of civilization goes, so goes them.
I wish I had that kind of foresight.
Higgins Industries work force and contracts
Higgins believed in a diversified workforce for his plants, including all races and genders, and sought highly skilled employees. This type of workforce drew the attention of politicians, including Presidents Roosevelt and Truman, who were frequent visitors.[11]
Higgins Industries was one of the world’s largest manufacturers, with over 85,000 workers and $350,000,000 in government contracts.[12] With his first plant built on City Park Avenue, Higgins began to produce LCVPs non-stop. As more and more rail cars were filled and delivered to Bayou St. John, his government contracts increased, allowing him to expand to seven plants with the ability to produce larger landing crafts, PT boats and airplanes. One Higgins Industries plant was built on the Industrial Canal, allowing greater transportation access.[13]
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Andrew_Higgins
I’ve seen it many times on Victoria Harbor at night, but didn’t know it was considered “authentic”. I guess the Star Ferries are authentic, too - though rather less scenic. :)
[[In general, to be authentic, you have to use same materials the methods the old masters used to build it, right down to their methods of carpentry.]]
A lot of folks looking for work these days- train em, and build more traditionally- sure modern is faster easier, but - these ‘authentic’ boats need to be more abundant- they be cool lookin, and would be good reminder of times past- We have peopel still building old boats the old fashioned ways- they have passed down the tradition to new generations- wish Hong Kong woudl as well-
personally i wouldn’t care if it were replica or ‘authentically made’- but purists would i guess- it coudl still be done- and the tourist money and marketing would make the $$ back in no time when economy gets going again it woudl seem-
[[We cannot control the direction of the wind but we can adjust our sail.”]]
Cool saying!
I worked on an albacore boat out of San Pedro in the 60s. The boat tied next to us was a converted landing craft (don’t know if it was Higgins or not). You could see where they added a pointed bow and a cabin, but the original lines were still there.
” If it still has the original nameplate, it’s a restoration, he said”
This really makes sense when you think about it. For example if a biplane, restored and repaired over the years you would not be able to tell which wood was original. Sheet metal, even engines, all need to be replaced from time to time. Eventually almost nothing is original and it is hard to prove what is and isn’t. Same goes with wooden sailing ships, even old wooden buildings. For the large wooden temples and castles over in asia they do some incredible feats of engineering to replace some of the large structural beams if they get rot in the.
Junk Junk?
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