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    • What is a Half Hull
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  • MESTRE João Silveira Tavares
    • João Siveira Tavares Exposition
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Biography

João Silveira Tavares son of João Silveira Tavares and Zelia Silva, was born on October 27, 1946, in the village of Ribeiras in Lajes do Pico county.
João Silveira Tavares was born on the 27 of October, 1946, in the village of Ribeiras near Lajes of Pico. In the 70s, he was in Angola, and he developed the basic traditional technique and knowledge of shipbuilding. He builted in Luanda, on his own, his first boat: a fishing boat for a friend countryman living in the city. Returning to Pico island in 1973, he was invited to coordinate the work of conservation and maintenance of fishing boats for COFACO in Lajes do Pico and the city of Horta, on the island of Faial.

After five years in this service, he began working on his own, working on different types of craft for repairs, conservation and restoration on various Azorean islands. On the island of Flores he worked on boats for the company of the Master José Augusto; in Faial he worked on service boats for the Port of Horta. On Pico, he worked on many craft for local traffic, on Azorean tuna fishing boats, on  Salazar for Manuel Silveira Alves and on the island of São Miguel he worked on Conchinha, Lajes do Pico and Santo Antonio.

In addition to these work he was doing work for private individuals, repairing but also building from scratch the construction of small artisanal fishing boats. He was using traditional artwork standards for the boat construction. On the island of Corvo he made a large barge for the service vessels  transporting  goods.

In 1998, he was invited to join a project to restore and safeguard the process of construction of traditional boat Azorean whaling ships. The project was proposed by the American Daniel Thorne and with the support of a school of shipbuilding guided by Lance Lee (famous builder of boats in wood) in the State of Maine, USA. The objective focused on the construction from scratch of a Azorean Whaleboat. They had to do a study of the traditional process  of boat building and do research concerning the types of materials used in traditional techniques. Two young Americans, apprentice carpenter (J. Adam Stone and Bruce Halabisky) went to the Azores and followed the Master João S. Tavares throughout the process of construction of the boat Bela Vista, in the city of Horta. The project able them to recovered  traditional knowledge, concepts and traditional methods that could been lost forever. The whole process was recorded and documented in the book Twice' round the Loggerhead (texts of Lance Lee and watercolours of Yvon Le Color). It was the first new Azorean Whaleboat built after the Azorean whaling period.

This project encouraged and was the starter for a larger project in the area of reactivation of whaling heritage and would be decisive in the career of Master João S. Tavares. Between 1999 and 2000 he was invited by Azorean Maritime Heritage Society to go to New Bedford (MA, USA) build two whaling boats, Faial and Pico. From this date instituted the international races, competing crews that take turns moving to the city of New Bedford and the islands of Faial and Pico.

Since then, Master João S. Tavares has dedicated his career to the construction of the scratch and the maintenance of Azorean Whaleboats. His work, both by the importance and notoriety, for the   recognition of the quality of his work makes him one of the most renomned master for Traditional Azorean Whaleboats in the Archipelago.

In 2015, he was invited by Marc Larose to participate in a project to promote the Azorean culture and the Traditional Azorean Whaleboats heritage by creating new original, hand made models in wood of half hull of an Azorean Whaleboat. A high-quality product, certificate and that includes interpretative documentation. We will have a single register of Master João S. Tavares, his art of working with wood and experienced field of Azorean traditional shipbuilding.

Márcia Dutra
Antropóloga
NÚCLEO DE MUSELOGIA (OMA)
Observatório do Mar dos Açores
Fabrica da Baleia do Porto Pim, Horta-Açores-PT
www.oma.pt

Photo
Photo : From whale Hunting to Whale Watching

Boats build and recovered by Mestre Joao Silveira Tavares 

1.     Bela Vista – s/n - Faial (Daniel K. Thorne / Bedford Whaling Museum) - 1997 
2.     Faial  -s/n-  EUA  (New Bedford Whaling Museum) - 1999
3.     Claudina - LP-23-B- Faial (Clube Naval Horta)  - 1999-2000
4.     São Miguel -LP-51-B- Pico (Clube Náutico de Santa Cruz das Ribeiras)  - 2000 **
5.     Boavista -LP-59-B- Pico (Clube Náutico de Santa Cruz das Ribeiras) - 2000 **
6.     Pico - s/n- EUA (New Bedford Whaling Museum) - 2000
7.     Formosa -LP-58-B-  Flores (Clube Naval das Lajes das Flores) - 2000/2001*
8.     São João -LP-39-B-  Pico (Clube Náutico de Santa Cruz das Ribeiras) - 2002
9.     Maria Pequena -H-33-EST- Pico  (Junta de Freguusia de S. Mateus) - 2004
10.  São José - LP-26 B- Faial  (Junta de Freguesia do Capelo) - 2004
11.  Maria da Conceição -H-14-B- Faial ( Clube Naval da Horta ) - 2004/2005
12.  São Miguel -LP -51-B- Pico  (Clube Náutico de Santa Cruz das Ribeiras) - 2005 
13.  Boavista -LP-59-B Pico (Clube Náutico de Santa Cruz das Ribeiras) - 2006 
14.  Senhora do Sorocco -H-12-B- Faial (Junta de Freguesia do Salão )  - 2006-2007
15.  Senhora de Fátima -H-111-B- Faial (Junta de Freguesia de Castelo Branco) - 2007
16.  Serra Branca -SG-116-B - (Clube Naval da ilha Graciosa)- 2008
17.  Capelinhos -H-24-B- Faial  (Junta de Freguesia do Capelo) - 2008
18.  Senhora da Guia -H-7-B- Faial (Junta de Freguesia de Feteira) -2008
19.  Maria da Boa Viagem -LP-53-B- Pico (Clube Náutico de Santa Cruz das Ribeiras)  - 2009
20.  São José -VE-162- B-Faial  (Junta de Freguesia do Topo) -2009/2010
21.  São Joaquim – LP-17-B- Pico (José Soares) - 2010
22.  Senhora de Fátima -SG-98-B- S. Miguel (Luís Miguel Vasconcelos Cravinho/Terra Azul)-2010
23.  São João –SG-103-B- Graciosa (Clube Naval da ilha Graciosa) -2010
24.  San Ruiz –SF-20-b- Flores ( Museu das Flores/Fábrica da Baleia do Boqueirão) -2011**
25.  Santo Cristo –SF-4-B- Flores ( Museu das Flores/Fábrica da Baleia do Boqueirão) -2011**
26.  Santa Maria –VP-25-B- Santa Maria ( Clube Naval de Santa Maria) -2012**
27.  Açores - s/n- EUA (New Bedford Whaling Museum- modelo à escala) – 2009
28.  São Gabriel – LP-50-B- Flores (Clube Naval das Lajes das Flores) - 2014/2014

 *  Boat built  from scratch in workshop
** Recovered Whaleboats

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