Seafarers of the Emirates - Tapa dura

Seafarers of the Emirates places on record the last years of the old way of life in the emirates as it related to the sea; a time when the Gulf could claim to be the home of the largest surviving merchant sailing fleet in the world. The author lived in Dubai in the middle of the 20th century and was privileged to have been able to see, record and photograph much of the marine activity at a time when the Emirates was on the threshold of radical change - change that later led to the eventual demise of the distinctive lateen sails, and change that led to a new form of trade - the oil trade. Ronald Codrai manages to recreate the romantic and ancient ways of the pearl diver, pearl merchant ship building and seafarers that have been all but lost to the modern world. He also includes in the book personal accounts and anecdotes as well as interesting historical and environment facts.

Published posthumously as poignant tribute to his wife, Ronald Codrai arrived in the Trucial States, now the UAE, with an oil consortium in the mid 1940s. He was a talented and enthusiastic photographer and amassed a collection of thousands of images much of which has been published or exhibited.