Tanah Beru
Wooden “pinsi” are still built on a broad, palm lined beach at Tanah Beru. On the road from Makassar we passed beautiful examples of the wooden stilt houses that Sulawesi is known for. The tidal flats along the shore were divided up into parcels for fish farms or for making salt. When we arrived in Tanah Beru we walked to the beach, where we saw many boats, large and small, in various stages of construction. Some of the wooden ones were huge, 16-ton schooners with gracefully upcurving keels. Propped up on the beach by a rickety nest of bamboo poles and sticks nailed to swaying palm trees, it looked as if the boats would flop over at the slightest breeze.
 |
 |
We could not understand how they dragged the completed ships across the flat beach and into the water without them tipping over. Metal bolts held the planks of the larger boats in place, but for the smaller boats the traditional wooden pegs were used. Each plank was hand-sculpted to fit precisely with the others. The hull would rise from the keel, plank by plank, from the mind of a master builder working without plans. We spent the afternoon visiting the boats and chatting with the workers.
 |
 |
Prev: Sulawesi