Medang Island - Bugis Medang

The water was calmer this morning, so we were keen to head to shore. I have a stash of educational art and craft goodies I brought with me to give to regional schools, so researched where the school was. And of course we met Rudi yesterday so thought we might be able to find him and we’d have an intro there.
But first the mangrove end of the island beckoned. It looked quite untouched though we could see some boats protruding from the mangrove like they’d been moored there for shelter.

It turns out that the Bugis end of Medang has a thriving boat construction and repair industry! Narrow inlets in the mangroves led a series of sheltered beaches and lagoons where small boats are moored. In some of the inlets large wooden ‘liveaboard’ boats are repaired and built from the ground up using traditional methods.
We were enthusiastically invited aboard the first one we approached. It was undergoing repairs, men working all over it, replacing timber planks and decking, removing rot and patching, caulking and so on.

The boat had four private cabins (consisting of a small room with a wooden platform bed). Hardly luxurious, but they were air conditioned! The ceilings are low, and there were 3 levels in addition to the space in the hull where the engine is. There was also a large ‘dormitory’ style space. These boats take about 45 guests between Lombok and Labuan Bajo in the Komodo region.

After touring that boat, we continued on to motor into the village, passing more boats enroute. One was more in the open water, and was secured by large posts driven into the seabed, and bolted to the boat.

‘Sarini Utama’ is a beautiful boat at least 30mt long. She has the most graceful lines. The guys on the boat waved us over and invited us aboard. Like the others, she was undergoing an upgrade. It was fascinating to see how the men milled the timber from rough slabs onboard. The timber is hardwood from Sumbawa. One piece was 17 mt long! (Typically in Australia timber is milled to 4.8 or 6mt lengths, unless it is laminated. This piece wasn’t especially straight, and appeared to be fairly green.

Instead of joining the timber with nails or screws, all joins are done with hand-shaped wooden pegs driven into drilled holes. Very labour intensive but ideal in a marine environment. Joins in larger beams were all done with a mortise and tenon style join.

Our self-appointed guide was clearly very proud of their work. He explained that all of the boats we could see protruding from the mangroves were actually being built or repaired, not just moored.

While onboard we were offered a taste of a fruit dish they had. Once I would have been hesitant, but you have to die of something, right? This was balls of a fruit - ‘like melon but not melon’ floating in a sweet milky looking sauce. The taste was pleasant - not overly sweet. Like a milder version of a banana flavour. We didn’t die!

By then we realised that school was finished for the day, so we headed back to Thetis for a nap. We awoke to hear a motor and a voice. 2 young men - Lubis was the one with good English - came with a bowl of freshly caught seafood for us! When we tried to pay, they would accept no money for the small coral trout, 2 thread-fin bream and an octopus! We were blown away with their kindness. They stayed and we chatted for a good while, before they headed to shore just on sunset.

Dale cleaned the fish while I did the octopus 😬. At least this one was ‘departed’ and wasn’t like the squid which had clung to the bowl the first time we were given fresh seafood!

By the time we had cleaned them it was very late, so I made tinned tuna patties for a quick dinner - sacrilege 😆😆😆Read more