Traveling back to 1977

Chapter 379 Running a lap

On the riverbank, Master Wang and his apprentices were hammering away.

Chen Fan had previously thought it was just a simple matter of connecting and securing a few small boats with nails and planks, but when Master Wang and his team started working, he realized that he had underestimated the task.

When an experienced craftsman takes charge, how could he possibly be the same as a novice?

It seems Chen Fan himself is an expert?

However, he didn't really care about this small sampan that he was only using for a few days. He was planning to restore these small boats to their original state after the big ship was launched, so he was fine with it as long as it could be used for a few days.

But Master Wang had a different idea.

In his eyes, this boat was meant to deliver goods to the prefectural committee. If it was just a few planks and nails, made to look like a patchwork, how unsightly would it look when it sailed out?
Do they still care about saving face for Lujiawan?

Moreover, this boat is going to sail into the Yangtze River, where even if the wind and waves are not too strong, there will still be waves. If we only use boat nails, it will sway and probably fall apart in a few days.

So even if it's just a temporary assembled sampan, he has to try his best to make it look good and be sturdy.

His method was to first nail the joints of the six small boats together with boat nails and thick iron wire to form a whole, and then lay a thin wooden board on top.

The hull of the small boat is already very thin and the curvature of the hull is not large, so laying the planks is not too difficult.

(Back then, the small rowboats were paved with wooden planks at the bow.)

These planks don't require high-quality wood; even the most common hardwoods will do. In fact, to build such a large ship, Master Wang even brought back the cutting machine from the construction team. After receiving the task from the brigade headquarters, it only took half a day to prepare the planks and the thick iron wire brought back from the construction team. Now, all that's needed is to lay them on top.

With many hands making light work, the boat was reinforced in no time, and the planks were laid out one by one.

If you look at it from above without looking down, it really does look like a large ship that is nearly two meters wide and ten meters long.

It's just a bit thin.

Then everyone worked together and carefully pushed the large boat sideways into the river along the grass on the outer embankment.

That wasn't all. Before the boat had even stabilized, Master Wang went back on board to inspect it. He walked from one end to the other on the slightly undulating river as if it were flat ground, and even jumped into the water to check the situation below, making sure that all the planks and joints were in place. After that, he led his men to install the mast and canvas.

Seeing this, Chen Fan knew that his suggestion had been in vain.

Didn't you see they were already prepared? Otherwise, where would these things have come from?

Since the ship's main power source is a diesel outboard motor, the sail is not large and only serves an auxiliary purpose. It is also installed at the bow of the ship, so it will not have a significant impact on cargo loading.

The main purpose of installing this sail is to save fuel. If the wind and current are favorable on the way back, it may not even be necessary to start the diesel engine; simply raising the sail will allow it to return.

While the boatmen were busy on the other side, Chen Fan squatted on the riverbank to observe and learn.

He wasn't slacking off; his main task was already completed. The diesel engine lying next to him and the already assembled outboard motor were his jobs. The rest would have to wait until the ship was fully assembled.

More than half an hour later, Master Wang stood on the boat and called out to Chen Fan, "Teacher Chen, the boat is ready. Come and see if it's alright."

Chen Fan stood up. "I'm here."

He then called out to the people next to him, "Can someone help me lift this?"

With a shout, he immediately summoned four people who, without him lifting a finger, carried the diesel outboard motor onto the boat.

As soon as Chen Fan stepped onto the bow of the boat, Master Wang came over and said with a smile, "Teacher Chen, what do you think?"

He turned and pointed to the boat, explaining, "The hull below is nailed in place with ship nails. On the longer side, there are more than a dozen ship nails between every two boats, and eight on the wider side. Even the bottom of the boat is reinforced with thick iron wire. This way, with the hull above and below, we try to prevent it from swaying."

Then wooden planks were laid on top and nailed securely. As long as the thick iron wire underneath doesn't come loose and the planks on top don't break apart, the small boat won't fall apart. Then there's this small mast, which can be operated by one person and is relatively simple; you can learn it in a day or two.

Years ago, many fishermen in our team used these small sailboats to go fishing on the river. The fishing boats were equipped with these small masts; they were simple and easy to use.

Chen Fan looked at the canvas they had raised and tried to control it.

This thing is indeed simple, like the small sailboat that Robinson Crusoe made himself. It's just a wooden pole with a canvas hanging from it, wider at the top and narrower at the bottom. There's also a bamboo pole in the middle to stretch the canvas, and two ropes hanging from the top pole can control the direction.

You can also control it by pulling the middle lever.

In short, the key point is that it's simple and basic!
Even the simplest sail is still a sail, and once it's raised, it can reduce the burden on the diesel engine.

At that moment, a gust of wind blew across the river, and the sails immediately billowed up, carrying the boat slowly away from the riverbank.

Chen Fan wasn't in a hurry. He tried to find his direction slowly, navigating the boat in a small, wobbly circle in the river before returning to the shore and stopping.

Master Wang looked at him with a face full of surprise, "You used to learn how to sail?"

Chen Fan smiled and shook his head, "No, it's quite simple."

Master Wang was speechless. Even something as simple as this was still a bit difficult, especially when going against the current and wind. If the sail wasn't handled properly, the boat could capsize at any moment.

He had been standing guard next to Chen Fan the whole time, worried that Chen Fan, who had never handled a sail before, would make the boat spin around and mess things up. But he never expected that Chen Fan would learn to handle it on his own as he spun around.

Chen Fan glanced at Master Wang and laughed, "This thing is quite useful."

He then walked to the stern, saying, "I'll install the outboard motor first, and then test the boat."

Master Wang followed him over and said with a smile, "It's all ready. We've added a wooden board at the rear and fixed a steel frame. The steel frame extends outwards to hold the diesel engine."

(Outboard motorboat)
Soon, Chen Fan reached the stern and took a look at the stern frame, which gave him an idea of ​​what to expect.

The diesel engine and outboard motor were then assembled. Since the forward cabin was a flat area, and three or four layers of cages might be stacked on top of each other later, a person would need to stand to control the steering stick. Therefore, the steering stick was lengthened so that even if a high chair more than a meter high was used to sit on it, it would not affect the operation.

After the outboard motor was installed, the main body of the boat was complete.

As for adding railings, preparing anchors, tarpaulins, mast lights, and other items, those can be added gradually.

Chen Fan added a can of oil to the diesel engine and started the machine. With a loud roar, the river water below immediately surged, and a faint thrust seemed to be pushing the boat forward.

The simplest outboard motor, and even the propellers of large ships weighing tens of tons used by shipping companies, all use "reverse" directional systems.

In other words, if the ship wants to go left, the control stick or rudder needs to be turned to the right, and vice versa.

Chen Fan, holding onto the control lever, stood proudly at the stern, adjusting the gear of the outboard motor. The propeller, which had been idling, immediately transmitted a thrust, and the large ship steadily sailed out.

A dozen or so carpenters stood on the deck, some with their hands on their hips, others with their arms outstretched, enjoying the rare cool river breeze.

Master Wang stood beside Chen Fan, grinning from ear to ear. After a while, he turned to Chen Fan and asked with a smile, "How's the boat?"

Chen Fan smiled and gave a thumbs up, "Very stable."

Although the speed of the boat may be less than 40 miles per hour due to the limitation of the diesel engine horsepower, which is incomparable to the speedboat composed of a single small boat, this speed is enough to travel to the prefectural committee and county town, and a round trip takes more than two hours.

Master Wang sighed softly and said, "Unfortunately, the foundation is still not good. It's just a few small boats pieced together. Even with reinforcements, if left unattended, the nails and wires will start to loosen in two or three months at most. In less than six months, this boat will fall apart."

Therefore, for safety reasons, it should be maintained at least once a week, mainly checking for loose nails and wires, as well as loose surface planks. This might extend its lifespan.

Just like the bamboo rafts in scenic areas, they also need to be maintained at least once a week to check whether the bamboo connections are loose. Only by maintaining them regularly can they be safe.

Chen Fan smiled and nodded, "Safety first, that's only right."

He steered the boat through the middle of the river, looked at the water on both sides, and said with a smile, "But in another month, the water transport company's old boat renovation will be completed, and this boat can be retired."

Master Wang felt a pang of sadness upon hearing this. He stomped on the wooden plank beneath his feet and said with a wry smile, "Actually, this boat is not bad, it's just that we never thought about it this way before, nor did we have any need for it."

He looked at the rolling river and sighed softly, "Actually, if we had a big boat like this, we could catch a lot more fish in the river."

Without a diesel engine, a sail could be installed, but Lujiawan could meet its basic needs by growing rice, so there was no urgent need to fish. In addition, the Bailanghu Brigade below was a fish-raising team, and every household here had enough fish to eat, so why bother to go through all that trouble to get a big boat for fishing?

Chen Fan frowned slightly, watching the slowly moving riverbank, wondering if he really had to leave the boat idle a month from now.

A moment later, as he watched the wisps of smoke rising from the village ahead, his eyes suddenly lit up. He turned to Master Wang and said seriously, "Master Wang, when the big ship arrives, let's modify this boat. We can add a canopy to the cabin and install dozens of seats on the deck to make it a passenger ship, what do you think?"

Master Wang hesitated for a moment, then said, "Technically, there's definitely no problem. We can use palm leaves for the roof, and bamboo for the roof itself, which is lighter. Bamboo chairs or stools will also work. All of that is fine. But the problem is..."

He looked at Chen Fan in confusion, "Who's this seat for?"

Nanhu Commune only has two ferry crossings, one in the east and one in the west. Those are the ferry management office's private plots. Are you trying to steal their business?
Back then, even if it were the commune secretary, let alone Teacher Chen, it wouldn't have mattered. The ferry business was gone, which meant the ferry management office had no reason to exist. No wonder they were furious.

The next second, however, he heard a very unexpected answer.

Chen Fan chuckled and said, "Let the students from our village school sit here. Think about it, the village school is in Team 10. The students in the teams above it are relatively close. But for those who live farther away, like Teams 5 and 6, it takes more than an hour to walk there. If we use this boat to pick them up, we can take them all to school by making our way around."

Although it doesn't save much time, it reduces the amount of walking for the students, and they can also study while on the boat—it's a win-win situation.

Upon hearing this, Master Wang couldn't help but chuckle. "If you use a boat, you'll have to take a long detour. It's better to hitch a few horse-drawn carts and have them wait by the village road, then you can pull them all the way there."

Chen Fan thought it made sense. Although the carriage couldn't carry too many people, those who lived nearby could go directly there themselves, or if that didn't work, they could hitch a couple more carriages. It was still better than using diesel fuel.

He shrugged and laughed, “If that doesn’t work, we can apply to the commune to open a water passenger route from Nanhu to Yunhu and Gufeng County. Anyone who wants to go there can buy a ticket at Team 5 and we’ll take them there.”

"That won't work either."

Master Wang laughed and said, "If we were to do this kind of work, the passenger transport company would go crazy. Taking a boat is so comfortable, and the journey doesn't take much longer. Everyone would come to take our boats, and who would take their buses?"

Chen Fan was at a loss when he heard this, so he simply waved his hand and said, "Then we'll talk about it when the time comes. At worst, we can raise more chickens and ducks and take over the chickens and ducks of the other four brigades. Three boats are not enough to transport them, so we'll have to build more boats."

Master Wang immediately laughed, "This one is more reliable. I heard that there's a three-masted sailboat in front of the prefectural committee's water transport company building. That was their company's first boat. When that boat is no longer usable, we'll put it in front of the brigade headquarters so that future generations will know how we delivered goods to the prefectural committee back then!"

Upon hearing this, Chen Fan burst into laughter. "Oh my, you know about this? I've been to the prefectural committee twice and I've never heard of it before. We need to give this boat a name first, otherwise, if people ask later, 'What's this boat?' and we say it doesn't have a name, wouldn't that make us seem uncultured?"

Master Wang took it as a joke and said with a smile, "Naming a name is definitely something a cultured person like you should decide. Once you've chosen a name, I'll get you a nice piece of wood, carve it, and nail it to the side of the boat. How about that?!"

Should I name it?

Chen Fan thought of the mighty Yangtze River and couldn't help but gasp. He said modestly, "How could a junior like me name something? We should go back and ask Secretary Yang and the others to decide."

Upon hearing this, Master Wang nodded in deep agreement, "Teacher Chen is so modest!"

Chen Fan laughed and looked around. "Huh, where is this?"

Master Wang stretched out his hand to shield the view and looked into the distance. He could vaguely see the river bend ahead, and his expression changed slightly. "Oh, it seems like Team 1 is ahead. This place should be Team 2."

In such a short time, have all three teams run past?

Chen Fan's eyes darted around slightly. "Since we're already here, let's run a lap around Lujiawan, then go to Team 6 before heading back."

Master Wang was speechless. You have nothing to do, but we have to go back to work.

However, Teacher Chen is right. Since we're already here, we might as well take a look around.

(End of this chapter)