The Patriots

Seawater also contains the two most important gases for sustaining life, oxygen and carbon dioxide.

Availability of Food after the flood:

Evolutionists have claimed that there would have been no food available after the flood because of the salt water. It should be noted that saltwater isn't always detrimental to plant growth, plants exhibit some tolerance depending on the degree of salinity. Belgium suffered salt water flooding of many of their crop fields during the 2^nd world war but were still able to grow: "Seawater flooding in Belgium produces bumper Crop"

Supplies may have been low immediately after disembarking from the ark but seaweed (kelp) would have been abundant. It's rich in Iodine, so it could have been eaten by both man (as it is in Japan) and beasts, a boost to the immune system. Especially helpful in lieu of disease from contact with human and animal waste in the arc and being near dead creatures immediately upon leaving the arc.

The bible says: "Make thee an Arc of gopher wood; rooms shalt thou make in the ark; and shalt pitch it within and without with pitch..The length of the arc shall be 300 cubits, the breadth of it 50 cubits, and the height of it 30 cubits." - - Gen 6:v14-15

Photo: A contractor by trade, Huibers built the ark of cedar and pine.  Biblical Scholars debate exactly what the wood used by Noah would have been

No one knows what gopher wood is today. Several ideas have been put forth suggesting that it might be some form of laminated construction material or simply pitch saturated wood. If the latter, then why state the double requirement for pitch "within and without"? Would not the term 'gopher' itself convey that meaning? And, if it's a laminate, then why isn't it stated as to how the layers are to be developed as God did when telling Moses on the mount to take care to make all the things He commanded according to the patterns given?

The fact that gopher wood is not mentioned anywhere else in the flood account implies that it was a wood well known to the inhabitants of the time. It may be just another term for a common tree variety today that fell out of usage after most perished in the flood. Brazilian Ipe {eepay} is a wood known by many different names, some of which are 'Amapa', 'Greenheart', Tahuari'... etc. The unique 'gopher' designation could describe a variety of wood species just as the term 'Santos Mahogany' does.

"Santos Mahogany is grown in countries all the way from Mexico to Argentina... This rich species of Mahogany is deep reddish-brown to orange-brown in color in its heartwood. It is tougher and stronger than typical Genuine Mahogany, and it wears incredibly well over time. "

If the Arc's dimensions can be taken literally then why not the type of wood? Gopher, like 'Santos Mahogany', could have grown only in the area where the ark was built. Destroy the habitat and you destroy the species. Extinction is not unknown in our own time. The available supply of Gopher wood may have been destroyed either by the force of the flood, a higher salt-water concentration or simply an over abundance of water from the ensuing deluge.

The term 'gopher' does not necessarily infer a stronger wood than other species but perhaps it simply offered superior decay resistance like Ipe. Ipe resists insects, moisture and rot, highly desirable characteristics for a construction material during the 100 year long building of the Arc. Gopher may have been a wood better suited to marine use, just as one selects maple for building furniture, rather than cottonwood or elm. Many kinds of wood today are capable of satisfying the structural loading requirements of the Arc such as Hickory, Teak, and White oak.

The Arc and its frame would have been constructed with trunnels or dowel pins made with a hardwood like locust. Although Brazilian Ipe and Locust woods are difficult to work by hand, they make excellent fasteners because of their shear resistance 2060 psi and 1760 psi respectively. All wood in and outside the Arc would have been coated with a pitch sealant.

Pitch: a dark oily liquid obtained by distillation of coal tar, used as a preservative for wood. Pitch contains some 150 different compounds, creosote is one used to preserve wood such as rail ties. Noah's pitch likely didn't depend on distillation. "There are examples of stave churches that have been preserved with pine tar for nearly a thousand years.."

Arc construction began in May of 2005.

Huibers did most of the work himself with his own hands, of course, using modern tools and with some occasional help from his son Roy.

The bible indicates that there were 3 decks. The door or gangway would have been located at the 2nd deck elevation, whether in the side or in one of the ends, is still a matter under consideration. An earthen or wooden ramp would have had to be built by Noah and his family for the animals to board.

In the real Arc, ramps would have guided the animals to the upper or lower decks. Noah, his family and smaller animals and birds were likely on the top deck where the Arc's windows provided light.

Rainwater could have been collected during the 40 days rain depending on how the Arc's windows were fashioned. The food supply could be augmented by fishing from an Arc window at either or both ends of the ship.

The Coelacanth (see-la-kanth) fish "..astonished ichtyologists..[who] had been convinced that the last coelacanths were found only off eastern Africa, mainly in the Commoros archipelago. They had been thought to have died out around the time dinosaurs became extinct {70 million years ago -Ed.}, until one was found there in 1938. "

It's calculated that the real Arc drew between 19 to 24 feet of waterline with its cargo and "..all manner of food" and water.

The first deck would have been completely submerged.

Dinosaurs & Man: (Job 40, v15-23 and Job 41, v15-21 ): "..in 1856, French workers were digging a railway tunnel when something monstrous stumbled towards them, emerging from a large boulder from the Jurassic period, that they had just split open... it was examined by a palaeontologist, and identified as a Pterodactyl.."

Evolutionists claim that man experienced a brush with extinction in the past, which supports the role Noah and his sons had in repopulating the earth.

'Human line 'nearly split in two': "The Genographic Project's findings are also consistent with the idea - held for some years now - that modern humans had a close brush with extinction in the evolutionary past [Or from a great flood!]. The number of early humans may have shrunk as low as 2,000 [or just Noah & his family!] before numbers began to expand again in the Late Stone Age. "