A fine miniature boat which is breaking the waves and sailing forward is a symbol of happiness and prosperity, of good marine harvest.

Visiting De Gi, asking whom makes the best handicraft boats (often referred by the local residents as decoration boats to distinguish them from the real fishing boats), visitors will be shown way to house of Tran Cau, 62, from An Quang Tay hamlet. He started to build his very first handicraft boat made from foam 30 years ago.

“When I had to stay away from the sea in a long period because of storms, I made miniature boats, making use of leftover foam after building the hold of my real fishing boat.  I did for both entertainment and decoration, particularly for the entertainment of children. In order to make a fine product, the maker must be both skillful and knowledgeable about technique operation and design of the real boat. In addition, he should be a little bit creative and innovative”, he said.

The boat making is basically comprised of steps as follows: define size of the boat first and then build its frame. The frame must be well-proportioned in length and width, and be able to keep balance on the ground. With the frame available, the maker goes on cutting the foam into five or six-centimeter-thick planks, sticking them closely together to the frame upward from the bottom. The next step is to make smaller articles which require more meticulously such as the hold of the boat – each boat has 5-6 holds with clearly marked numbers), cabin, screw propeller, flag pole, radar station, spotlights and even a multi-deck set. The final step is to cover the miniature boat with paint used for the real boat, employing typical familiar colors of De Gi boats – grey for frame with black for stripes or blue frame with red stripes.

Besides the foam, materials used to make the boat can be bamboo and wood but they are not as durable and beautiful as the foam, particularly in case you want to put the boat in a water operation with motors and batteries. “The bamboo boats look beautiful but just for decoration. They sink when put into the water. In the belief of fishermen, the boat sinking is a bad luck. The boats made of bad quality wood aren’t usually durable while ones made of good quality wood are too expensive that no one likes to spend money. The wooden boats are too heavy to sail fast like the foam boats. To De Gi local residents, a fine miniature boat which is breaking the waves and sailing forward is a symbol of happiness and prosperity, of good marine harvest. It should be placed at auspicious sites of feng shui as decoration on tables, on altars or hung on the walls,” said Cau

Started by Cau, the hobby has spread to others in De Gi. As fishermen, they find no difficulty in mastering the structure, the design of the boats but in making beautiful, well-balanced ones which require patience and true interest. Nguyen Van Tai from An Quang Tay hamlet has just finished building a 1,7- metre-long boat, the biggest one in De Gi. He said, “This is a gift for a person of goodwill who often helps the fishermen of De Gi whenever they experience marine harvest loss or stormy seasons. They covered cost of materials and payment. I just took charge of making the boat. It took me nearly 2 months to finish the boat, resembling traditional boats of De Gi seaport.”

Besides common miniature small fishing boats or simple design boats that use seine nets, offshore De Gi fishermen has chances to see various kinds of boats from other localities, from abroad. They try to remember the details of the boats to reproduce imitative miniature boats in their spare time. That’s the reason why the “Made in De Gi” handicraft boats had diversified designs. The handicraft boat making in De Gi is an entertainment movement with native traits of coastal culture. Although it has been encouraged to develop, the skilled boat makers are still rare. So, it is necessary to maintain and promote the healthy hobby as well as consider introducing it as a local tourist product.

• Sao Ly