Picture Posting Colin Brydon

Fishing Boats in Northern Vietnam

Fishing boats moored along the shore in Tĩnh Gia The coast of northern Vietnam is lined with villages devoted to fishing, work reflected in the constant presence of boats visible from the shores. These vessels vary considerably in size and shape from the one person coracle to the vehicle carrying ferry. A common sight, on a day with a low swell, is the sea peppered with fishing boats operating within a few hundred metres of the beach These flat bamboo boats are strictly for calmer waters... ...the net is controlled with the long pole The Bay by Đà Nẵng - the little boats dotting the sea are all coracles, similar to the one on the right Some of the simplest boats are made by lashing bamboos together as in the two pictures above. More complex manufacture is needed for the round coracles which are made by weaving bamboos and tarring the resulting mat. Both coracle and flat bamboo boats are popular all along the northern coast Beached coracle with larger fishing boats in Thanh Hóa Province A simple bamboo boat beside a fisherman's shelter, and just visible beyond is a large square net, similar to the cantilever nets of India Cantilevered nets in action in Kerala Close-up of the nets in the distance of the last picture. This type of square net, held at the corners, are prolific in Southern India While much inshore fishing is done from those simple vessels, there is also a need for boats which can go further off shore. With larger boats, cabins can protect, as with us, from wind and water, but in Vietnam also offer necessary protection from the sun. This same design of craft with their cyan cabins can be seen 300 kilometres to the north in Hạ Long Bay - the dramatic background is different, but the boats are the same. Boat, coracle and the Đà Nẵng 'Lady Buddha' statue in the distance The pattern of foam makes the sea feel as though it is draining away, and taking the boat with it, here by Tĩnh Gia Beach Fishing Boat on Hạ Long Bay of the same design as those in the centre of Vietnam The properties of bamboo are so well suited to the need for strength and resistance to the effects of water that there are few alternatives in use in smaller crafts. Larger boats, those big enough to have a cabin, are made from more expensive, and mostly imported, woods. Evening view of boats in Hạ Long Bay- mostly for pleasure, but some for fishing There are some larger boats, this is a ferry serving Cát Bà Island - space for cars but devoted to motorbikes The same type of larger fishing boat seen further south in Nghệ An Province A larger fishing boat, out of the water for repairs at Nghi Sơn These two boats are both from Nghệ An Province and show two main shapes; the straight line from the bow (above), and the swinging curve in the boat to the right. But as elsewhere the key colours of red and cyan are still in evidence. A view of the town of Nghi Sơn with its beautiful natural harbour, and its dense population of fishing boats, together with the house boats on which some fishing families live All the smaller boats (those without cabins) are hauled out of the water every day and lined up along the shore - which neatly takes us to the next page The next page gives you a better view of some of these boats - out of the water.

Connections...

The previous page was about tourism on Tĩnh Gia beach A page on inland boats in Vietnam A page on the road from Tĩnh Gia down to the beach

Saturday 5th March 2016