For centuries, the Bugis people have sailed from South Sulawesi across the shallow seas of the Indonesian archipelago. They would sail east and west on the monsoons, regularly trading as far as Northern Australia in their two masted ships, known as phinisi (often also spelled pinisi.) The great age of sail, which ended in the West in the early twentieth century, never quite ended in Indonesia. The Bugis have continued to build their phinisi on the beaches of Sulawesi and continue to sail the islands to this day. In addition to serving as transport and traders, the phinisi are also increasingly used as tour, cruise and dive boats. Some are fitted out as yachts.
What brought this to mind was an article posted by Tom Russell in the Traditional Sail Professionals Linked-in group, about a large phinisi recently launched from the beach at Tanjung Bira, in Bulukumba, South Sulawesi.
Bulukumba shipyard launches another impressive Phinisi Schooner
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