MOSCOW, September 22. /TASS Correspondents Irina Skalina, Alexandra Buder/. Volunteers from Arkhangelsk built in the Museum of Moscow the Pomors' karbas. The authors want to demonstrate ancient technologies that were used in the rapid exploration of Siberia where over a few decades people opened and developed huge Siberian territories stretching to the Pacific Ocean. We have witnessed the shipbuilding to learn that ships may be sewn.

Pomors karbas in downtown Moscow

At first glance, the wooden vessel's golden side looks unusual. Just a regular boat, but - look closely to see the boards are connected not with nails or bolts. Neat stitches keep them together.

"Correct, it is actually sewn. Can you see these stitches? These are spruce branches, twisted," the project's manager Evgeny Shkaruba told us. "This is vitsa (twisted wooden rope), a branch cleaned of twigs, twisted; it gains the properties of a rope: elasticity, flexibility. And we use it to sew up the side like with a thread."

We come closer and immediately feel the thick odor of wood, very tasty. The hull is made of the trunk's bottom where the tree is connected to roots. The big boat is a karbas, probably a most ancient ship model created in the territory of Russia and, surprisingly, still being created.

The first syllable is stressed in the word "karbas." Karbases are sailing and rowing fishing and transport wooden vessels, common at least since the 15th century till now on the White and Barents Seas. Karbases were mentioned in the Solovki Monastery notes in 1531. Apparently, by then, the White Sea coast inhabitants - the Pomors, or coast dwellers - had been actively using them.

The karbas the volunteers are making, Evgeny continued, is just a vessel, with the appearance and features of the ships that the Pomors used to sail in the Arctic seas. Take, for example, koch, which is also the Pomors' vessel. However, it is large and complex, nobody builds kochs any longer.

In the times Siberia was explored - that is the 16th century - karbases, of course, were sewn. It took less than two weeks to make a six-meter karbas that served for fifteen years.

"Karbases were workhorses, they were the Pomors' main boats. Each owner had a karbas - to sail, to move things - that is they were both transport and fishing means. Karbas is very simple. That's probably why it has survived all the other types of ships."

The "Moscow" karbas of 9 meters long was being built for about two months. The Arkhangelsk shipyard masters have made nine karbases, but this one was the first sewn karbas. The masters learn and teach at a time: the shipbuilders tour excursions and offer master classes at the Museum of Moscow.

— In Moscow, it's easy enough to find volunteers willing to work, Shkaruba said.

— What about those skilled to build?

— Well, there is nothing special here. Just a desire to learn is what matters. Such people do come.

— Young?

— Young…

— Do they learn quickly?

— That depends.

Evgeny explains that the karbas must be strong, as the expedition will sail across the White, Barents and Kara Seas, and those seas are very difficult. The vessel will have two masts and three pairs of oars. The crew - seven people. They will have to pass the Mangazeya seaway.

Mangazeya seaway

Mangazeya nowadays sounds magical. In reality, it was the first Russian polar city in Siberia. Mangazeya was founded by Russian colonists in 1601 on the Taz River at the confluence of the Osetrovka (Mangazeika) River. Presently, it is in the Yamalo-Nenets Region's Krasnoselkupsky District.

Mangazeya was a stronghold of a trade route - the Mangazeya seaway (this Arctic route connected the Pomors with Siberia, passing from the Northern Dvina mouth along the shores of the Barents and Kara Seas, crossing the Yamal Peninsula and exiting into the Ob and Taz Bay). It was a symbol of something fabulously rich, which is why it was nicknamed "golden-boiling". Getting to Mangazeya was possible both by land and by sea.

By the late 16th century, sea voyages became much more frequent, and the Pomors started regular communication with the Taz River basin. Mangazeya was a center for collecting duty, a center for fur trade. Furs at that time brought huge revenues to the state treasury. Mangazeya was known in Europe, the route was shown on maps of that time.

Part of the Mangazeya seaway went along rivers and lakes, and its two sections were on the land. That was not just a route. There was a thoroughly provided navigation support, which included the optimal route, sailing times, coastal navigation signs, special types of vessels, and skills in local coastal navigation.

The Mangazeya seaway was officially banned in 1619. The government of Mikhail Fedorovich, the first Russian tsar of the Romanov dynasty, banned its use fearing European merchants may enter Mangazeya to export furs to avoid paying duties. The royal decision read "[use of] that route according to the royal decree <…> [may be punished] with the death penalty, so that nobody ever used that seaway from the big sea-ocean to the Mangazeya Sea or from the Mangazeya Sea to the big ocean"…

By that time, the British and Dutch were actively searching for routes to the east, and by using Mangazeya they could have buy furs directly. Or even could go to explore the Siberian lands.

"However, by the time the Mangazeya seaway was banned, furs in western Siberia were almost exhausted. To maintain the volumes, it was necessary to go to new lands," explained Yevgeny Ermolov, head of the Russian Arctic National Park's Department for Preservation of Historical and Cultural Heritage. "By having closed Mangazeya, the government encouraged industrialists to go further into yet undeveloped lands."

Summer in 1642 was very hot. A disastrous fire broke out in the city, and in 1672 Tsar Alexei Mikhailovich put the final point in its history. The population fled the city, moving to the Yenisei banks, to the Turukhansk winter quarters. That was the beginning of New Mangazeya that however did not manage to become a "golden-boiling" spot.

Mangazeya as a source of inspiration

Due to the market changes, and partly due to the fires, Mangazeya fell into decline, and was finally abandoned in 1677 and forgotten for a long time. Nowadays archaeological excavations are underway in the ancient city.

Nevertheless, Mangazeya became a stronghold for Siberia's development - explorers from there were heading for unknown territories. That exploration continued at an incredible speed - thousands of kilometers were covered within just 70 years. The accumulated experience and skills, including the Pomors' shipbuilding, were the instruments for that unbelievable breakthrough towards the Far East, Evgeny Shkaruba noted.

"While studying karbases, studying the old fleet, we gradually came to understand how Siberia was mastered. We realize the huge share of the Pomors' experience in this, the experience of shipbuilding, sailing the Arctic, and dragging. All these technological skills pushed the rapid development of Siberia in the 16-17th centuries. Gradually has emerged our complex project, dedicated to technologies in Siberia's exploration."

The project participants will make a film about how the karbas was built, about the sailing. The expedition will feature a series lectures onboard. The sailors will discuss the Mangazeya seaway, the Pomors' ships, will tell the audience about their journey and about how it is to build ships using ancient technologies.

The plan was to have the karbas built by the Day of Moscow - September 9, and the next day it was to be launched. Further on, the wooden ship will be transported to Veliky Ustyug and from there it will sail at first along the Sukhon, then along the Northern Dvina to Arkhangelsk. After the trip to "golden-boiling" Mangazeya, the karbas will return to Moscow to be exhibited at the Polytechnic Museum's Technology of Discoveries show.

Comprehensive project

The Pomors Shipbuilding Partnership in Arkhangelsk is building another vessel, an expedition vessel - the Pomors' schooner. It is a classic wooden vessel 20 m long. It may take travelers to the Arctic, Antarctica and anywhere in the World Ocean - in the most complicated conditions of the Arctic seas.

"Our Marine Practices Club used to have a plastic yacht, a big one, for trips around the world. It was a comfortable, fast-moving vessel. We enjoyed sailing in difficult navigation areas, we have sailed in the Arctic: to Greenland, to Iceland. Then failures began: we broke the mast near the Easter Island and it occurred we must build our own, very strong vessel. The modern plastic boat resource is insufficient for our expeditions, and thus we decided to build something different."

Evgeny Shkaruba and his team studied shipbuilding practices of Europe, America, Australia, New Zealand. The conclusion was - they need to focus on the Promors' traditions, from where had emerged the Russian shipbuilding culture.