Daily Times

Under the blazing tropical sun, Indonesia’s traditional ship builders hammer, drill and carve timber from nearby forests into intricate two-mast vessels that have plied the archipelago’s waters for centuries. Sulawesi island is the heart of the country’s industry creating the iconic schooners, known as Pinisi.

It has earned a reputation as home to master craftsmen and some of the best sailors around. Their tools may have changed over the years, but builders still reach into the past by performing rituals and prayers key to the building process which takes place on Sulawesi’s palm-fringed beaches.

Published in Daily Times, July 13^th 2018.