SURELY if any ship could sail into the past it would be this traditional craft of the Makassarese fishermen which is now used for gathering the eggs of the flying fish. One can search these boats for western influences without finding anything modern but the sailcloth, plastic, rope and paint. To find one under sail puts you back a century or two . The name Patorani   means " Catching the flying fish ".

RECOGNITIONS

A pajal hull with Makassarese style of rudder supports, and tripod mast in a traditional
support consisting of three pairs of vertical posts. A second tripod mast is supported on the roof of the desk-house. The boat sits high out of the water and is filled with a clutter of beams and poles. The titled rectangular sails are usually of coloured light cotton. The boats are often sllung about with fish traps the size of large waste-paper baskets .

LOCATION

A few of these boats can sometimes be found at Paotere harbour , UjungPandang      ( the capital city of South Sulawesi - Celebes ), but most of them berth at the south end of the town. There are others along that coast.

PERFORMANCE

I have seen these boats at work only during the east monsoon when the sea is sheltered by the land. The season for flying-fish eggs is from June to September with interruptions if jellyfish swarms appear. With their thn cotton sails that are cut full and baggy they ghost along before light wilnds. The two sails together form a beautifully curved aerofoil slot and the boat goes well at about 45^o  to the true widn as seen from
another boat, but on account of drift the boat makes hardly any headway. To go about they lower the small sail and wear ship, bringing the mainsail across the bows. Both sails swing freely and tilt in any direction around the tripod masts, which have no stays
except the halyards.

HISTORY

The indications are that the prahu patorani has changed little for several hundred years, but at some time in the nineteenth century the builders of the hulls adopted the western ribs and floors. A nineteenth-century model in the Museum fur Volkerkunde, Berlin, has more primitive continuous ribs, as still used in a few places e.g. Aru and Nias Islands. In the old prahu Patorani the sides were raised above the deck by strips of matting , a traditional Indonesia method of keeping out slop.

The hull of the prahu patorani is of the Pajala ( netting man ) type. This is a name which for centuries has probably meant the same general design of hul of various shapes. Nowadays floors are fitted, some of the ribs project above the gunwales, and the three legs of the tripod mast are pivoted between three pairs of vertical posts attached to floors. Fur further details of the history of the hull, and ceremonies at keel
laying and launching.

USE

The flying fish normally lays its eggs on weed or leaves floating out at sea, and the floating baskets are lures to persuade the fish to make their courtship ritual and lay eggs. The baskets have open ends that are crossed by an inwardly pointing fringe of sharp fingers of split bamboo of exactly the right flexibility and separation. During courtship the male lies beside the female and as she lays her eggs on the basket he dashes past her, pushing her into the trap in so doing. Often both fish are caught together. Once inside they close against each other when the fish push outwards. The fish are dried, or sold fresh,but at the present price of about 80.000 rupiahs per kilogram the eggs are the valuable part of the catch; 25 - 30 tons a year are exported to Japan where they are sold as red caviar. In 1977 - 9 the number of prahu patorani was increasing because the fishing is so profitable.

You may notice at the front of the prahu patorani a long stick curving upwards and decorated with pieces of wool, pendants, wooden fish and similar trinkets. If you ask directly what this is for you will probably not be told, but if you ask the fishermen how much they paid for this decoration they will admit that they purhased it. Then you can ask whether they already had luck in their fishing, and whether they use other charms to ensure a good catch. In fact they have many, among them are salacious stories to try to give the fish the idea of mating, and the fish are supported to be attracted only to boats with foul-mouthed crews.

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 If you are interested in asking about many types of Indonesia Prahu, especially ones from the regions of South Sulawesi like the prahu  Bugis ; Pinisi, Lambo etc.
Or If you are thinking about taking a visit of the shipbuilder village at Tana Beru ( Bulukumba ) South Sulawesi where you will be able to see how they build these kind of boats, just let us know and we will take you there !

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