Timber Shipbuilders of Indonesia #sailing #sulawesiindonesia

After sailing to Bira on the Indonesian Island of Sulawesi, we explore the world of the Bugis people, once fearsome pirates and the origin of bogeyman myths, now famous worldwide for their amazing skills handcrafting massive traditional wooden ships
The Bugis are the predominate ethnic group on southern peninsula of the Indonesian island of Sulawesi and are one of the most skilled and well known sea-faring people in Southeast Asia.
Back in the Seventeen Hundreds the scary bogeyman was no myth but very, very real murdering plundering, pillaging pirates creating havoc along the spice routes plied by ships of the Dutch and English colonial companies. “Beware of the bogeyman” was a phrase used to motivate sailors of these colonial traders to be watchful and ever alert. These bogeymen, the Bugis, weren’t imaginary ghosts but rather a very real, dangerous threat to ship and crew.
The modern day Bugis are no longer fearsome pirates but are still master mariners and skilled ship builders almost totally responsible for Indonesia having the largest fleet of timber cargo ships in the world.
In addition to that, there is now an also impressive fleet of traditionally constructed timber sail and motor boats catering for the exploding adventure tourism and live aboard dive markets. Visiting this hub of traditional wooden ship building had been on our bucket list for a very long time and fully lived up to our anticipation.

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