East Indies watercraft

[TonyH]

While clearing some space in the garage earlier this evening I came across a box of photos I took while sailing through Indonesia in 1993. Most of little merit (if any!:D) but there were a few pics of the colourful local boats that I thought you might find interesting, so here they are. As you'll see, they take polytarp sails very seriously in this part of the world.

First, some local sailing canoes (mostly sailed by kids) in Ambon Harbour, mixing with the yachts of the Darwin-Ambon race fleet.

http://im1.shutterfly.com/media/47b9dc05b3127ccec6247be950c800000040O08Ict2LlwzbA9 vPho/cC/f%3D0/ps%3D50/r%3D0/rx%3D550/ry%3D400/

Next, a large prahu in the same harbour...

http://im1.shutterfly.com/media/47b9dc05b3127ccec6250d0bf16d00000040O08Ict2LlwzbA9 vPho/cC/f%3D0/ps%3D50/r%3D0/rx%3D550/ry%3D400/

And a smaller one a little to the north, in the Ceram Strait

http://im1.shutterfly.com/media/47b9dc05b3127ccec6245d3c500e00000040O08Ict2LlwzbA9 vPho/cC/f%3D0/ps%3D50/r%3D0/rx%3D550/ry%3D400/

This part of the world is also infested with moored fishing platforms, made of bamboo. Often unlit at night!

http://im1.shutterfly.com/media/47b9dc05b3127ccec625c4d0307a00000040O08Ict2LlwzbA9 vPho/cC/f%3D0/ps%3D50/r%3D0/rx%3D550/ry%3D400/

continued...

[TonyH]

Pit-sawing timber on the beach at Banda Neira, for boatbuilding. Very traditional, very hard work!:)

http://im1.shutterfly.com/media/47b9dc05b3127ccec624866910ae00000040O08Ict2LlwzbA9 vPho/cC/f%3D0/ps%3D50/r%3D0/rx%3D550/ry%3D400/

A lovely prahu tearing along in the Buton Strait.

http://im1.shutterfly.com/media/47b9dc05b3127ccec6243a83101a00000040O08Ict2LlwzbA9 vPho/cC/f%3D0/ps%3D50/r%3D0/rx%3D550/ry%3D400/

And finally, here's what I was sailing, the lovely BYZANCE, an S&S designed Swan 40, anchored in a little cove on the north side of Pulau Serutu, a lonely little island in the Java Sea.

http://im1.shutterfly.com/media/47b9dc05b3127ccec625e3a8f1b900000040O08Ict2LlwzbA9 vPho/cC/f%3D0/ps%3D50/r%3D0/rx%3D550/ry%3D400/

[The Bigfella]

Great photos Tony.

How much space have you got available in your garage btw?

[TonyH]

How much space have you got available in your garage btw?

Not nearly enough!:D Thanks for asking:rolleyes:. It's a double garage (never had a car in it in the nine years I've been there, of course!). At the moment I can actually walk all the way around the table saw, but this is a recent innovation.

Andrew, the sails appeared to be made of a woven plastic material similar to what is used to make the modern equivalent of jute grain sacks. That's what it felt like to touch, anyway. We asked but language barriers meant we never quite got to the bottom of it. We had a guy in Ujung Pandang (Macassar) make us a cockpit sunshade out of the sacking-type material and it didn't last two weeks in the South China Sea tropical sun, turned to dust. So I assume the stuff they use to make sails must be purpose-made "sailcloth" that is UV stabilised, because they are big sails, well cut, and they surely can't be replacing them every fortnight!

[TonyH]

Andrew, I showed these pictures to an acquaintance of mine who has an encyclopedic knowledge of the watercraft of this area. He tells me they are all perahu lambo. On the sailcloth, he tells me that the material is labelled "kain layar", which means "sail cloth". This is what he says about it:

Yes it was purpose-made sailcloth, and wonderfully cheap too. Less than a dollar per square-metre as I remember it. My little boat has a lug sail made of the same stuff which I've been using for 16 years now.

On the big perahu (more than about 50 tonnes) sails were made using two layers of the cloth with the seams staggered.

So there you have it!:) Perhaps Todd Bradshaw should start importing?