Thousand-year-old dhows
The dhow is a long, wide, raised hull with a pointed prow. Most of the time, you'll see these boats, called baggalas by 19th-century Arabs, painted in blue, red and white, blending delightfully with the landscape. A veritable floating framework above which a single large triangular sail rises in the wind, sometimes complemented by another identical but smaller sail, which can prove useful in difficult sea conditions. Described by the Moroccan explorer and traveller Ibn Battuta in 1331, in his famous book Voyages, the world of dhows is that of Arab traders, fishermen and smugglers from all over the Indian Ocean. For centuries, these sleek boats carried, among other cargoes, all those arriving by caravan on the East African coast, particularly slaves captured by tribes allied to the Arabs. Their role was comparable to that played by Arab caravans and Touareg meharis on land: to convey travellers and goods across the seas. Between India, Persia, the Arabian Peninsula, Somalia, Zanzibar and northern Mozambique, there were of course some variations in the boats. But the construction technique, which can be observed in a few small artisan shipyards on the Swahili coast of the ancient kingdom of Zanj centered on the island of Zanzibar, remains the same everywhere. Of course, don't confuse dhows with small ngalawas, pretty outrigger boats carved from mango trunks for shrimp fishing.
A carpenter's know-how of the seas
In the past, the sails were woven from palm leaves, later from cotton and Merikani cloth. Dhows vary in size from small to huge boats. Size is measured by weight. On average, this type of boat weighs between 2.5 and 5 tons.
The planking is placed on a form, then the members, made of bent branches, often of mangrove, if possible in one piece, are precisely readjusted with an adze and wedged inside. With a bow drill, holes are then drilled to insert blacksmith's nails whose ends are bent inside and which, in the time of the Portuguese, replaced the seams in coconut fiber. Planks of the same hardwood are then laid, almost perfectly joined, to form the whole hull. The gaps were filled with cotton wicks soaked in vegetable fat or copal resin, and the hull was decked. The cargo is often protected from the sun and sea spray by a makuti roof comparable to that of many land-based dwellings: slats of palm attached to a mango tree frame. The resulting vessel can exceed 40 tons. The stern (rear part of the hull) is normally made of board. The straight bow and the flat stern are local characteristics, probably inherited from the Portuguese. Most of these boats have no engine, and small oars (hauri) in the shape of spearheads are used to approach the coast. The rudder is of the Indian type and the sail, at least at present, is not Latin but Arab (the Arabs invented it in the 8th century), as it has a small fall at the front; it allows to progress upwind in the monsoon.
A daily fishing boat
The art and beauty of the traditional voyage under sail is today the daily bread and butter of Mozambican fishermen. In Inhambane as in Vilankulo, fishermen leave the beach in the morning to fish offshore. When they return in the late afternoon, the fish market is organized, often on the sand or in the center of the villages, built as open-air stalls. Men and women crowd around the booty, tickets in hand. Sardines, barracudas, squids, hake... the lots are evaluated, appreciated and even emptied on the spot, right on the sand. The women are particularly experienced and have very precise gestures, especially when it comes to fish that can be poisonous. The children also have victuals to sell fished at low tide between the rocks: octopus, sea cicadas, shells of all kinds... The meticais are exchanged and the basins are filled. Not far from the beach, the dhow experience is lived in another way: the cruise to the nearby red dunes, a geological curiosity north of Vilankulo that we climb at sunset time. The Bazaruto archipelago can be reached by powerful motorboat because the distances are great.
An exotic tourist excursion
Often sunset dhows are organized to enjoy a short sailboat ride along the coast in front of the glowing sun, with a drink in hand. It's a slow and relaxed trip along the water that retains all its magic when the sailors unfurl its large sail to raise it high into the sky. To immerse yourself and understand the history of the dhow, there is no better way than to climb aboard! Some people experience it directly with the fishermen for short crossings to nearby islands or simply for a short ride, usually with the opportunity to bask in the sun on the deck. In Maputo, you will be offered to go by dhow only to the nearby islands of Xefina Grande and Xefina Pequena. The island of Inhaca can be reached by motorboat because it is far away. In Tofo, the ocean is too rough for dhows, but the bay of Inhambane is the scene of fishermen's dhows. When you go further by dhow, the boat is more imposing, it has an engine and a sail in case of lack of wind. Beware of damaged fishermen's boats, without life jackets for trips in the open sea that nobody offers in the classic tours, it is much too long: it takes 3 to 4 hours for example to reach Bazaruto from Vilankulo eb dhow against 45 minutes by motor boat! It is better to try to organize it with an agency in this case for better security and comfort.
