So Old a Ship

Every time I saw a dhow under sail I marvelled at their grace and speed and I always hankered to emulate Villiers and make a long voyage on one. It was not to be. Sailing dhows are almost non-existent now and the skills will soon be lost, so it is timely to have this record of voyaging and life aboard one for posterity.Sir Robin KnoxJohnston

Marion Kaplan, then living in Kenya, shipped aboard two working dhows for a National Geographic story. Despite being a woman in a male-dominated world, she started as passenger and ended as crew. Her story, published in 1974 and again here, must be the last of its kind. It's a singular story with photos to match.Classic Boat

Marion Kaplan was asked by National Geographic in 1972 to record voyaging on the last of the Arab dhows. Four decades later, she describes that vanished world.Classic Boat

Photojournalist Marion Kaplan recalls sailing on one of the last ocean-going trading dhows from Dubai to Tanzania.RYA Magazine