Great Rafts

Great Rafts is the term used for any Timber Raft of extraordinary size, from between 100 and 600 meters in length, and up to 50 meters beam, and 2 meters of solid logs high. Great Rafts are often used as a simple way to transport extremely large amounts of logs and other resources from inland forests to the coastal states and cities. The practice is common in many parts of the world, where the rivers are wide and slow enough to support such massive vessels.

Great rafts, incapable of traveling upstream, are often broken up at their destination, and the timber is then sold, and the crews will often join a caravan heading back upstream.

## Great Rafts in Juhnvechteya

Juhnvechteya is known for its usage of great rafts, which are well documented throughout time.

Juhnvechtese rafts are most commonly found on the rivers Ploughwater and Torad, the larger great rafts being found on the latter. Juhnvechtese rafts can be up to 600 meters in length and a beam of 50 meters.These rafts may have a crew of up to 500 men, and have great stores of merchandise and materials on their decks, as well as shelters, bakeries, livestock pens, and ovens. They are maneuvered about the bends in the rivers by large oars on the sides, which are heaved on by the crew to bring it about the river's bends. Large rudder systems are also used.

There are even oceangoing versions of these watercraft, found along the western coast, which may be up to 700 meters, and have up to 60 masts and sails. These rafts are used to transport Juhnvechtese timber to Khu, mostly to Meshkar, where it is sold to the desert dwelling peoples for the construction of their ships.

## Great Rafts in Fengdao

Fengdao developed large rafts, called kopīn (木頂), to travel across the shallow Turtle Sea, known in the Harmony Isles as the "chīfāi" (浅海). These great rafts are used to transport yànko (暗木) logs from the mainland to the isles to build boats.

Fengdao rafts have been used in the isles between the islands to transport wood, yet since the introduction of the yànko (暗木) tree, there has been demand for the fast-growing and durable hardwood. Due to the lack of land suitable for growing the trees, they were transported to the flat lands of the mainland and land was cleared for them to grow. Much of the wood cut was useless to the Fengdao, as it was unsuitable for the construction of ships. Some was used for temporary towns for foresters, and some was taken back to the isles on rafts and burnt as charcoal. These first rafts were massive floating patches of logs tied together and rowed across the shallow sea. When the yànko trees were ready to harvest about 60 years later, they were transported to the isles in similar rafts, and these were then broken up, and made into boats. The rafts used on this trip were often around 300 meters long and manned by about 200 men. This was a massive undertaking and most men that lived outside the cave went on this trip. After the logs reached the islands they were moved on land so they would not rot and a team was sent out to replant the yànko for the next harvest. The next harvest is planned for the next full moon.

## See Also

* Ploughwater Galleys: A type of riverine watercraft found in Juhnvechteya along the River Ploughwater
* The Evolution of Fengdao Ships