Albion

Well, according to some crationist on another board, who heard it from an Israeli boatbuilder, the dimensions given were for the displacement of the Ark, not its actual size. Although what difference that makes is another matter. If the Ark is bigger than the number of cubits specified, it'd be impossible to make from wood, especialy without pitch, which was one of the things produced during the flood in creation space (although the Israeli boatbuilder thinks that in fact such a boat would be entirely seaworthy), and if it's smaller, there'd be the problem of fitting all the animals on board.

Jan Haugland

Hmm, I wished I had my references here still.

Wooden boats even approaching such a size were extremely vulnerable, and moreover, they leaked so much they needed machine pumps to keep them afloat.

Obviously, whoever wrote the ark legend did not belong to a seafaring nation. He knew zilch about boats.

pz

Let's also toss in the fact that this is a gigantic wooden boat that has to survive the most intense storm to ever hit the planet.

Principia

Anybody want to put out an educated guess on the amount of food that had to be stored to feed 2 of every kind on this planet for 40 days and nights? I guess, the rules are no eating another kind!

[ November 26, 2002: Message edited by: Principia ]</p>

Jeremy Pallant

Just to play devil's advocate, but didn't the Chinese explorer Zheng He (1371 - 1435), use ships that were around 400' long? Accounts on the 'net are pretty consistant in agreeing that they were this length, if not longer. The biggest is said to have been 440' long and 186' wide.

Edited to add...

This latter vessel was said to carry 1,000 men, presumably including supplies. If the dimensions and manpower of this vessel are accurate, it would seem reasonable to conclude that Noah's ark couldn't possibly have held seven of every clean kind and two of every unclean plus the supplies necessary to sustain them for over a year.

[ November 26, 2002: Message edited by: Jeremy Pallant ]</p>

One of the last sane

That particular wooden ship would've needed really awesome machine pumps just to get all the manure and urine out.

Doubting Didymus

What bothers me more than the size of the boat is the way that many creationists severely shave down the number of neccessary animals, presumably because they have speciated (of all things) since then. Sometimes, hypocracy is so powerful it has its own stench.

Albion

Well, let's face it - as long as humans get to be in a "kind" all by themselves, do creationists really care about the rest of the animals?

Vorkosigan

Zheng He's ships reached the physical limits. Also, they had numerous modern accouterments -- copper sheating, iron braces, compartments -- that presumably Noah knew nothing about.

Arrowman

Isn't the "actual size" of a boat by definition greater than the displacement? How does the "Israeli boatbuilder" think that this distinction, even if true, would do anything but hinder his case?