Pinisi Boat

The Pinisi Boat is synonymous with the Bugis people, a major ethnic group from South Sulawesi. For generations, the Bugis were renowned in the region for their sea-faring exploits. Their voyages played an important role in influencing the course of history in the Malay Archipelago. The spirit of enterprise even led the ancestors of today’s Bugis to places as far as Australia and Madagascar. Credit must somehow go to the hardy and reliable Phinisi.

The construction of the Phinisi still lives on among Buginese boat making families, who ply their trade along the white sandy beaches of Kampong Tana Beru, 135 km south of Makassar.

Building a Phinisi boat involves dozens of people led by the head boat maker, and is done in several phases.

First is to search for strong and water-resistant wood taken from a particular tree. The search is conducted only on certain dates like the fifth or seventh day as the number five means “having luck” and seven means “luck is on the way”. Before chopping a tree, a small ceremony will be conducted which includes the slaughter of the chicken. When it comes to chopping, the blows must land in the same direction of wood grain.

The next few processes (in quick succession) involve drying the wood, followed by assembly, installation of sail pole and finally, launch.

Before the launch, another special ceremony involving animal sacrifice is held. If the boat weight less than 100 tons the sacrificed animal is goat and if it weighs more, the animal will be a cow.

The launching process usually done during the high-tide in the midday, thereby marking a six-month long process that began with the search for wood.

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