Raft used along the central coast to ferry people and cattle across shallow rivers and for fishing offshore and inshore. Composed of slender strips of bimba wood lashed, pegged, and weighted so that the bow end curves up markedly. Some square-ended, others sharp-bowed. May be concave athwartships, with the outside poles forming gunwales that extend beyond the stern; type of shoe keel in forward part onto which a small stem is socketed. Some at Novo Redondo are so deeply concave that the open end is almost a half circle. The square-ended tchimbala has a framework set onto the raft to provide a bench for rowing. Poled and rowed; those used for fishing step a bamboo mast through a thwart, setting a spritsail. Lobita area boat length 1,5m, width 0.75m. Spelling variant: mbimba. Futher reading: Luis Taveira, “Bimba,” Geographica( Lisbon).
Angola 1998;250.000.00KZr. Source: . A Dictionary of the world’s Watercraft from Aak to Zumbra.