What is a raft?
About a raft.
Before we will leave with the route of a raft down with the Vistula River to Gdansk, we will explain to the ones who are less aware few definitions connected with a raft.
In the old Poland a raft was one of the most important means of transport, so it was an important element of economy of those days. Simply saying a raft ( in other word rafting) means the same as – floating of the goods with the river. The most recently floated goods in the Republic of Poland were grains, which were transported among other things on special items called barges. Wood was floated on the rafts or more properly saying in a form of rafts.
To understand easier what is hidden under the term “the most important mean of transport” it is better to use imagination (there can be also used old photographies) and to imagine the Vistula, on which there are flowing towards Gdansk about 500 chalands, 500 punts, 1000 flat-bottomed boats and few hundreds of rafts. That is how it was estimated by the experts of the old rafting economy within one season, taking into consideration the economic situation of the farm-hand economy of those days. The transports composed from few ships or rafts, were sailing since an early spring till a late autumn. Of course goods were floated not only with the Vistula, but also with the other rivers of the old Republic of Poland, usually with Dnieper and Niemen, from Wolyn with Bug to the Vistula. However with the Vistula leading to Gdansk, which was the biggest harbor and also the biggest and richest city in the Republic of Poland most of goods were transported. It became in a natural way the most important waterway.
And now we should explain also few terms from the history of inland navigation in the old Poland, namely:
Chaland (also berlingot, dinghy) is a big, without a drive ship, formerly canvas, flat-bottomed. Chalands were designed mainly for the inland transport of the mass freight. Once there was loaded on its deck to 100 tones of grains or other goods.
The illustration above shows chaland. The ship was moving presuming a sail (on the print it is not visible – it is closed), it had also paddles in an amount of 7 to 10. Chaland cost from 100 to 1000 polish zloty, and because of that most of the Polish nobility cold not afford it. Usually they tried to rent it, for example in Gdansk, Kazimierz by the Vistula, most often from burghers for 100-500 Polish zloty.
Punt is a sail-paddle ship was usually encounter after chalands and flat-bottomed boats.
Flat-bottomed boat – it was a ship without a pole used for rafts on the river, it was moved only with the paddles. Because it was characterized by a small immersion it could be used for the navigation on shallower rivers. It was used from XVI to XIX century. Flat-bottomed boats were used usually once, after reaching a destination they were taken to pieces and crew was coming back by land. Flat-bottomed boat was served usually by the crew which consisted of 9 to 11 rafts, and its load capacity could reach even 35 laszt, what was about 70 tones. On the following picture there can be seen so called flat-bottomed boat – one of the two main types of the ships that could be seen on Polish rivers. For moving usually there were used from 7 to 9 paddles. Flat-bottomed boat can be recognized easily – it does not have a pole and it has a characteristic quadrilateral shape.
Barge (with which we sail) was similar to Flat-bottomed boat. Therefore barge is a ship without a sail, looking as a big rectangle with a low-raised bow. Because of its construction it could not be used for the navigation against the flow, that is why barges, after reaching a sea harbor were often sold for fuel (we rather will not do it).
Raftsmen occupied themselves with floating. They were also called flotteurs (in Polish there are used many different names for them – flisacy, flisy, oryle). They were members of trade unions, and because they were quite a big group, already in XVII century they established their own organization which was similar to city craft guild, and king Wladyslaw IV Waza gave them privileges of a guild. In the front of a transport which was composed from few river ships there was lamaneur, who had a place on the front-part of the raft, and when there were ships used for the transport, he was having a place in a little boat (called lameneurs’), and was showing a navigable way. Raftsmen were mostly recruited from the villains or free peasants. Raftsmen had their own folklore (songs, rafts stories, dialect). Their patron was Saint Barbara.
What is a Rafting?
