How to Fix a Leaky Wooden Boat | Primal Survivor
NARRATOR: The boats may look simple, but their design is intricate and complex. Ta'u boatbuilders journey deep into the forest-- [non-english speech] --to find the 11 different species of tree needed to make a [non-english]. Centuries of experience go into making these boats. The wood for the keel is heavy, to keep the boat centered. The woods used for the sides are light and buoyant to help it float. Only an ax is used to shape each part, and wooden pegs hold the whole thing together. There isn't a single nail. It's a real work of art. [non-english speech] Building a [non-english] takes around 5 months. But with good care, it can last more than 10 years. To make sure my [non-english] survives this journey, I need to fix those cracks. And that means heading inland in search of a rare tree. The interior of the island is so mountainous that most of the forest is completely inaccessible.
Even the parts the Ta'u can reach are a tough climb away. [music playing] The tree I'm looking for only grows in a handful of places. But the Ta'u always know where to find such a valuable plant. Finally, I reach my goal-- a tree they call [non-english]. That's gotta it. They're hard to find. So the elders, they mark these trees so they can find them again, showing how important a tree like this is to the Ta'u people. And what's important about it is in the roots. Yeah, right there. The roots of the [non-english] tree are surrounded by these strange, densely packed fibers. It's like cotton fibers, really super soft and lofty-- just bizarre stuff.
In all my travels, I've never seen a tree that makes that kind of stuff. Bizarre. [music playing] Back at the shore, I get to work on my repairs. I need to hammer the [non-english] fibers into the cracks. These tiny fibers, they act just like the wood. When they get wet, they swell. This is the sort of indigenous technology that have been keeping people going out here for centuries-- simple, but effective. It's all about knowing the resources that are out there.