Growing up far from the sea, we didn't eat that much fish and it was always frozen. Since we've been sailing we've been eating fish a lot more often. Here in Indonesia, we've been eating it a lot. Unlike
most cruisers, we don’t fish for it ourselves, but, it's available on every menu, usually grilled with some kind of delicious flavouring.
As a nation of islands sprinkled along the equator, fishing is obviously a large part of Indonesian life. Activity we have seen here ranges from a single man with a net, to a larger fishing boat with a crew of perhaps twenty very young men (more like boys) aboard.
We haven’t seen any huge factory fishing boats. Just as well, as there are so many fishermen (it’s a male preserve only), boats and FADs about, that the fish don’t seem to have much of a chance as it is. So, what is a FAD? It’s a Fish Aggregating Device and they are a bane for sailors. Most of them are unlit at night and are impossible to see. They weren’t limited to any particular distance offshore either. We started seeing a lot of these floating raft type structures twenty miles off the north coast of Bali. Not a thing you want to run into in the dark.
Inshore, FADs range in size from a few sticks in the water, like an old-fashioned weir, to elaborate structures with built-in nets that can be raised and lowered. Here are a few examples of ones we saw. Each island seemed to have its own style of building.
At least the larger structures have lights on their perimeter poles.
This A-frame style was only seen at one island, very impressive.
In some places there were on-water villages of them.
Boats also came in every shape, size and colour. Some were beautifully decorated, others very basic like this boat, of which we saw many. You might think that rod coming out the side of the boat is some kind of net, or, fishing gear. Actually, it’s the shaft of what looked like an old car engine, mounted transversely athwartships!. The noise of these was incredible, but, what a way to recycle.
As a nation of islands sprinkled along the equator, fishing is obviously a large part of Indonesian life. Activity we have seen here ranges from a single man with a net, to a larger fishing boat with a crew of perhaps twenty very young men (more like boys) aboard.
We haven’t seen any huge factory fishing boats. Just as well, as there are so many fishermen (it’s a male preserve only), boats and FADs about, that the fish don’t seem to have much of a chance as it is. So, what is a FAD? It’s a Fish Aggregating Device and they are a bane for sailors. Most of them are unlit at night and are impossible to see. They weren’t limited to any particular distance offshore either. We started seeing a lot of these floating raft type structures twenty miles off the north coast of Bali. Not a thing you want to run into in the dark.
Inshore, FADs range in size from a few sticks in the water, like an old-fashioned weir, to elaborate structures with built-in nets that can be raised and lowered. Here are a few examples of ones we saw. Each island seemed to have its own style of building.
At least the larger structures have lights on their perimeter poles.
This A-frame style was only seen at one island, very impressive.
In some places there were on-water villages of them.
Boats also came in every shape, size and colour. Some were beautifully decorated, others very basic like this boat, of which we saw many. You might think that rod coming out the side of the boat is some kind of net, or, fishing gear. Actually, it’s the shaft of what looked like an old car engine, mounted transversely athwartships!. The noise of these was incredible, but, what a way to recycle.
We are getting a marine education. Forget bristol style. This is the new me mariners. Fair winds! Thanks for the pics! Keep em coming.
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