Syarifuddin has done it again - one of his boats is finished and is due to leave the small shipyard on the beach in Sulawesi. For months, the boatbuilder and his employees worked on the order for a local shipowner, without a written construction plan or modern machinery.

Boat builders have always passed on their knowledge orally, from one generation to the next. Just as Syarifuddin does today with his son. These cargo sailing boats, known as pinisi, already played an important role in Dutch colonial times. The Bugi schooners, as they were also called at the time, collected costly goods such as spices, which were then transported to Europe on larger merchant ships.

Even today, the traditional cargo ships supply the Indonesian island state with everyday goods.

Many are now equipped with an engine, which makes them easier to handle and steer, but also threatens to cause the traditional art of sailing to fall into oblivion. Fewer and fewer young people are mastering this technique, and for a long time it seemed as if the profession of sailor was doomed.

But for some time now, a rethink has been taking place. Even young women have recently become interested in working on deck. Syarifuddin is now preparing to launch his latest ship. Here, too, flair and experience are required. After all, it can take weeks before the ship is launched, which depends on both the weather and the tides.

The ship is pulled into the water piece by piece on rollers using painstaking manual labour. Just as Syarifuddin's ancestors did.