Boat Building, Navigation, And West African Indigenous Knowledge

This paper focuses on the boat building and navigation practices that are currently involved in constructing and navigating both the semi-industrial and artisanal canoe vessels along Ghana\u27s coastline. In order to make a fisherman\u27s journey to sea physically possible, productive, and safe, there are many processes that must take place. Boat construction and navigation are two of the most important of these processes and it is in these two areas that the most changes have taken place since the first fisherman went to sea. By examining these activities in detail, and by comparing my findings with regard to the differences that exist between semi-industrial and artisanal canoe construction and navigation. I was able to make some conclusions about the use of indigenous knowledge as it relates to these two age-old fishing practices