Tusitiri Dhow
Location: Corniche path, Mkomami ward, Kenya, Lamu Island, Kenya
A 65-foot trading dhow hand-crafted in Lamu over 50 years ago, found as a skeleton on a beach in the 1980s and rebuilt by a Norwegian family with local Bajuni craftsmen; its 8-person crew are Bajuni sailors whose navigation knowledge has passed father-to-son for generations
A Norwegian family found the skeleton of a trading dhow on a Lamu beach in the late 1980s. They rebuilt it, calling on local Bajuni craftsmen — people whose maritime knowledge passes father to son in a lineage stretching back to the Swahili Coast's golden age. The Tusitiri is now a 65-foot ocean-going dhow that was hand-crafted in Lamu over 50 years ago, its eight Bajuni crew members carrying sailing expertise that is generational rather than trained. What makes Tusitiri distinct from luxury charter boats is the authenticity of that crew: these are not hospitality workers who happen to sail. They are Bajuni sailors who happen to accommodate guests.
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