falkuša

File:Rigging-lateen-sail.svg was used on the Falkuša]]

The Falkuša is a unique wooden boat, tapered narrowly on both sides, and is about seven to eight metres in length by 3 metres wide.{{cite web | url=http://www.nika-adventure-tours.com/eng/customs-tradition_falkusa.php | title=The Falkuša | last=Kivela | first=Jakša | work=nika-adventure-tours.com | publisher=Nika Adventure Tours | access-date=2010-02-21 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101104142554/http://www.nika-adventure-tours.com/eng/customs-tradition_falkusa.php | archive-date=2010-11-04 | url-status=dead }} It had a low draft under a large ({{convert|120|m2|abbr=on|disp=or}}) lateen sail made from flax, mounted on a mast which was typically as high as the ship was long. It was very fast both under sail and with oar, able to achieve speeds between 8 and 12 knots. Its distinctive feature were two removable wooden side strakes called falke, after which falkuša got its name.{{cite web | url=http://arhiv.slobodnadalmacija.hr/19990824/dalmacija.htm | title=Kalafat Tonči Bakica: ja sam otac falkuše! | work=Slobodna Dalmacija | last=Kukoč | first=Diana | date=August 24, 1999 | language=hr | access-date=2010-02-25}} The strakes raised the rim of the boat by about half a metre, protecting it from high waves in the open seas. To ease the hauling of the nets, the strakes were removed during fishing.{{cite book | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=KIhFr8klMowC | title=Croatia | year=2006 | last=Stewart | first=James | page=268 | publisher=Cadogan Guides | isbn=1-86011-319-2 }}{{Dead link|date=March 2024 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }} The vessel could carry up to eight tonnes of salted fish barrels.

For its characteristics of toughness and strength, the traditional gajeta falkuša was made only with cypress wood from the volcanic island of Svetac.{{cite web | url=http://www.viaggioadriatico.it/ViaggiADR/rete_interadriatica/beni/gajeta-falkusa-vis | title=Gajeta falkusa (Vis) | work=viaggioadriatico.it | publisher=Centro Interuniversitario Internazionale di Studi sul Viaggio Adriatico | language=it | access-date=2010-03-07 | archive-date=2011-07-22 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110722065710/http://www.viaggioadriatico.it/ViaggiADR/rete_interadriatica/beni/gajeta-falkusa-vis | url-status=dead }} The keel was made of oak and the shell of larch.

A typical falkuša carried a crew of six men. There were five oars for standing oarsmen which were 7 to 9 meters in length. The fishermen used nets and a feral, a gas or petroleum lamp for attracting fish. Fishing trips lasted 20 to 25 days, to make them financially viable. Duties such as cooking, washing, repairing, sailing between fishing posts and dealing with bad weather left only 10 to 12 days for actual fishing in a typical journey.

The main fishing ground exploited by Komiža's fishermen was the island of Palagruža, approximately {{convert|42|NM}} to the south-southwest of Vis, which at times was used by fifty or more vessels. On the island there were provisional houses, which they used to store barrels of salted sardines and fishing equipment.

Fishermen of Komiža would hold an annual regatta between Komiža and Palagruža, known as Rota Palagruzona ("Palagruža Route"), a trip which would take about 5 hours of sailing with a good wind, or 13 to 16 hours of rowing when wind conditions were poor. The outcome of the regatta was very important, because top finishers won the rights to the best fishing areas around Palagruža for the season, and the other places were taken in the order of arrival.

The first known regatta to Palagruža was held as far back as 1593{{cite web|url=http://www.santamaria-cruising.hr/prospekt%20-%20ROTA%20PALAGRUZONA.PDF |title=Rota Palagruzona |language=hr |access-date=2010-02-20 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110721101947/http://www.santamaria-cruising.hr/prospekt%20-%20ROTA%20PALAGRUZONA.PDF |archive-date=2011-07-21 }} making it the oldest fishermen's regatta in Europe. Komiža's fishermen met in May 1593 in the Lodge in the town of Hvar. There it was agreed that the race of 74 falkuša boats would start on June 12. To signal the start of the race a cannon shot would be fired from the newly built town fortress. The fishermen were accompanied by Venetian war galleys in order to protect them from pirates.

With the advent of ship engines, the regatta lost its purpose, and its last edition was held in 1936.{{cite journal | url=http://www.cmj.hr/2000/41/1/410101.pdf | title=Palagruža, Komiža's Fishermen, and Fishermen's Regatta | last=Gamulin | first=Stjepan | year=2000 | journal=Croatian Medical Journal | publisher=Medicinska naklada | location=Zagreb | issn=0353-9504 | volume=41 | issue=1 | pages=1–3 | access-date=2010-02-21}} Falkuša was used well into the first half of the 20th century. The last gajeta falkuša of the island of Komiža, named Cicibela, was destroyed and sunk by a storm in the Bay of Porat (Biševo island) in 1986. Today its remains are preserved in the Fishing Museum in Komiža.{{cite journal | url=http://www.european-maritime-heritage.org/newsletter/EMH17.PDF | title=Palagruža | last=Robinson | first=John | journal=European Maritime Heritage Newsletter | issue=17 | date=October 2004 | pages=7–8 | access-date=2010-03-07 | archive-date=2011-07-26 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110726042046/http://www.european-maritime-heritage.org/newsletter/EMH17.PDF | url-status=dead }}

File:Gajeta falkusa Mikula.jpg

File:12060001.jpg

A replica of a falkuša named Comeza-Lisboa ("Komiža-Lisbon") was built in 1997 and exhibited at the 1998 World’s Fair in Lisbon, Portugal. The revival of the falkuša attracted significant interest, and the boat became the subject of five documentary films and an award-winning radio drama. In 1998 the falkuša was put on the UNESCO World Heritage List.

In 1999 under UNESCO and with shipwright's documentation supplied by Velimir Salamon, a five-metre reduced-scale replica of the legendary falkuša was built. It was named Molo. It was built in Komiža and launched into the sea on Saint Nicholas Day (December 6). The secretary of the European Maritime Heritage, Thedo Fruithof from Amsterdam, was present at the launch.{{cite web|url=http://www.vjesnik.hr/pdf/2008%5C08%5C04%5C22A22.PDF |title=Dječja falkuša »Molo« - naslijeđe za budućnost |date=August 4, 2008 |work=Vjesnik |language=hr |access-date=2010-03-13 }}{{dead link|date=December 2016 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }} A second full-scale replica, named Mikula, was finished in 2005.{{cite web|url=http://www.vjesnik.hr/Pdf/2005%5C07%5C23%5C72A72.PDF |title=Komiška gajeta s Murtera |date=July 23, 2005 |work=Vjesnik |last=Michieli |first=Igor |language=hr |access-date=2010-03-13 }}{{dead link|date=December 2016 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }} A third full-scale replica, named Palagruža, was finished in 2015.{{Cite web|url=http://vis-adventure.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/12/nautica.pdf|title=Magazin Nutica|access-date=2017-11-02|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160810152205/http://vis-adventure.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/12/nautica.pdf|archive-date=2016-08-10|url-status=dead}}

• Boat building
• Traditional fishing boats
• Komiža
• Palagruža
• Bracera

{{Reflist}}

• {{cite book | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=XgAhAQAAIAAJ | title=Navi di legno: evoluzione tecnica e sviluppo della cantieristica nel Mediterraneo dal XVI secolo a oggi | year=1998 | edition=2nd | language=it, en | last=Marzari | first=Mario| isbn=9788881900527 }}

• [http://rota-palagruzona.com/indexe.htm Rota palagruzona 2010] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100615181730/http://www.rota-palagruzona.com/indexe.htm |date=2010-06-15 }},
• [http://www.croatia.org/crown/articles/9872/1/Regatta-to-the-beach.html Regata do žala/Regatta to the beach], by Jakša Fiamengo {{in lang|en|hr}}
• [https://web.archive.org/web/20120318151242/http://www.nautica.st/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=109&Itemid=65 Sv. Nikola] {{in lang|hr}}
• [https://web.archive.org/web/20221005193022/http://www.vjesnik.hr/Pdf/2008%5C07%5C21%5C40A40.PDF Falkuša »Comez-Lisboa« i gajeta »Mociguzica« u Brestu] {{in lang|hr}}
• [https://archive.today/20020515193414/http://www.vjesnik.com/html/1999/01/03/Kultura.htm Priča o ljepoti gajete falkuše] {{in lang|hr}}
• [http://arhiv.slobodnadalmacija.hr/20040618/more02.asp Falkuša opet putuje u Brest] {{in lang|hr}}
• [http://www.tzhvar.hr/hr/hvar/novosti/?newsId=180 Forska gajeta „Mociguzica“ u Brestu] {{in lang|hr}}

{{Sailing vessels and rigs}}

{{Fishing vessel topics}}

Category:Sailboat types

Category:Types of fishing vessels

Category:Vis (island)

Category:Maritime history of Croatia