Traditional Boat Building in Padangbai, Bali

Article and Photography by Peter Hemenway

Padangbai is a traditional village in Bali, Indonesia that has grown quickly in the last 10 -20 years due to it being a transport hub to other islands, and tourists bring in income.

The local people often still make there living from the sea and traditional designs of fisherman’s boats is still is the same as before the village grew so much.

Simple tools are used to hollow out and shape a boat

This modified tool is made with a hatchet type design but the head is made to fit at an angle

Local tree trunks and branches are found and then shaped and carved.

The final boats are purchased by fishermen in the village who will sail the boats out early in the morning. Increasingly every year they must go farther out from land as the fishing has depleted the availability of fish.