Imposing, the wooden hulls stand in the traditional shipyards of Ierissos, telling stories of stormy seas and unforgettable voyages. Some of them were born from the pine trees of Holomontas and Mount Athos and are ready to carry the beauty of their homeland to distant ports. Others, worn down by time and battered by storms, wait patiently for experienced shipwrights to mend their wounds. In Ierissos, Chalkidiki, the few remaining shipyards offer a hazy glimpse of «past glories» while also offering a glimmer of hope for the future.
Vasilis Ioannou, a third-generation shipwright
The sounds of the chisel, the plane, and the ribbon catch the attention of passersby along the Ierissos waterfront. With passion and skill, Vasilis Ioannou carves the wood. From his experienced hands, yet another wooden hull will be «born» in his family’s shipyard. He breathes life into the trunks of wild pine trees and builds wooden boats, just as his grandfather taught him when he was still a child. He is the youngest of the ten shipbuilders in the entire country and one of the two remaining craftsmen in Ierissos, Chalkidiki.
«My grandfather started this trade 85 years ago, and ever since then, our shipyard, here in Ierissos, has never stopped building wooden boats,» Vasilis Ioannou, a third-generation shipbuilder, and explains: «When I was 10 years old, my grandfather taught me how to work with the chisels—specifically the single-edged chisel, which is unique to each boat—and later, between the ages of 12 and 15, I began working alongside my father. I learned from him all the details and everything needed to build a wooden boat.».
We start by choosing a tree and build an entire boat
«This profession is my whole life. I can’t—and don’t want to—imagine doing anything else. Just think: we start with a tree trunk and build an entire boat. When the boat is finished, I can’t describe to you how I feel… you build it piece by piece, and in the end, when it’s launched into the water, that’s where the greatest joy lies. ’It’s the satisfaction you feel for what you’ve created with so much love,’ he says, visibly moved.
Unfortunately, however, this traditional profession is fading away, as he himself notes, since «it’s very difficult and backbreaking work. You work every day, including Sundays, and the conditions are tough because you’re out there in all kinds of weather. We’ve learned to do it this way and we’re carrying on; I hope our children will continue as well, so that this traditional profession of the region isn’t lost.».
He builds the wooden boats using wild pine from the region, and as he explains, they come in various types, with the trechantiria, papadia, and liberty being the most common, while his customers come from all over Greece and abroad: from Germany and Serbia.
Nikos Giannakis: There are only 10 shipwrights in all of Greece, and the two of us are in Ierissos
Just a few meters away, on the Ierissos waterfront, Nikos Giannakis works with dedication in his shipyard. As soon as you step into his office, the large window overlooking the beautiful sandy beach and the sea of Ierissos captivates you. As he explains to APE-MPE, «Four years ago, when we founded the first association, we discovered that in Greece there are only ten craftsmen who build wooden boats, and of those, two of us are in Ierissos. If you think back to 1985, there were five shipyards in our area with many craftsmen, and now there are only two left, along with two shipwrights.».
Shipbuilding is a traditional profession in the region, he says, one that originated on Mount Athos. «The construction of wooden boats first began in the Athonite State when master craftsmen came from all over Greece to build boats. As you know, until 1960 we didn’t have cars; all transportation and travel was done by boat. So quite a few of our people went there and worked alongside them, learned the trade, and then built their own shipyards right here in our town, in Ierissos,» he notes.
A wooden boat can have a lifespan of 140 years
Nikos Giannakis has been practicing the art of boatbuilding since he was 12 years old; he has extensive experience and explains that wooden hulls have a unique aesthetic and are highly durable. If cared for properly, it can last up to 140 years, whereas plastic boats may be faster but suffer from osmosis after a few years. A wooden boat is more stable at sea and sways less than a plastic one, which is why fishermen prefer them. He also notes and emphasizes that once a year the boat must be taken out of the sea to dry and be maintained, and then returned to the saltwater, since the salt helps preserve it better, especially if it’s made of pine.
We choose the Greek pine, *Pinus halepensis* or *brutia*, for building wooden boats
«From start to finish, when it’s finally delivered, a boat requires a lot of attention and hard work,» says Mr. Giannakis, emphasizing that «we have to go up into the mountains to select the wood; no piece of wood is straight—they’re all crooked… Only two or three pieces are straight out of the 25 metric tons of wood we’ll buy. We have to look at the trees to see if they’re suitable for the curves—a 15-meter boat has different curves, and a 20-meter boat has different curves—so we have to select the wood from the mountain, and what we usually choose is the Greek pine, Pinus halepensis or brutia, which in the local dialect we call »tsami” and “black pine.” We also use elm and eucalyptus from abroad, as well as mahogany, iroko, and others.”.
Traditional running shoes and sneakers are the top choices
There are many types of wooden boats that are in demand both in Greece and abroad, which the boatbuilders of Ierissos are commissioned to build, such as the takos—which is the well-known lancha— the “papadia,” the “trechantiria,” the “peramata,” and the “karavoskara.” Nowadays, however, most people opt for trechantiria and takos, as Mr. Giannakis points out, explaining that it takes about six months to build a nine-meter wooden boat, while the time required increases proportionally with the boat’s length and each customer’s preferences.
The boatbuilders of Ierissos build wooden boats for customers from all over Greece, but the number of customers from abroad is also growing. Most of them, as Mr. Giannakis says, ’are tourists who come and settle permanently here in our region and ask us to build the wooden boats they like, so they can go on trips around the islands in the summer. You can find our wooden boats everywhere: in Corfu, Crete, Mykonos, Santorini, Corinth, Alexandroupoli—anywhere in our country where there’s a port, as well as throughout the Mediterranean,« he proudly emphasizes.
Alexandra Hatzigeorgiou
