Historic Fishing Boat Restoration

One of the first volunteer opportunities I found after I arrived on the island was working on a historic fishing boat restoration project. Getting started was easy because so much help was needed, and it was great for me to get involved with such wonderful people.

Coming up in October is the 50^th International Bonaire Regatta, and an effort is underway to recover as many old fishing boats, or “Boto di Piskado” as they’re called, so they can be a part of the races. The effort of the people here to resurrect their heritage has been remarkable.

I was told to come to an old boat house where the work was being done and was quickly put to work scraping and sanding the old boats. The property is a historic building that’s used as sailing center where sunfish sailing is practiced to perfection. I'm told he head of the sailing association is the world champion sunfish sailor, and the main sailing instructor is world renowned for his athletic accomplishments –  three-time world champion, and also holds the record for sailing a sunfish from Bonaire to Curacao, as well as the record for swimming around the island of Klein Bonaire.

The building is currently under renovation having been rescued from attempts by big companies to build a modern hotel on the site. Everyday I’m there working, guys are working long hours in the heat to bring back the historic charm of this uniquely Bonairian landmark.

You’ll see when the boats came in, they were in pretty rough shape, but no one was deterred from the work to be done. The regatta is in two weeks, so there’s still lots of work to be done, I actually have to stop working on-line and get down there to do some painting!

  

Yopi sits by his favorite boat, "Aransta", a boat he built himself.

After removing all the rotten wood, all that's left of this boat is the shell of the hull. It's more work than to build a new boat from scratch, but the locals love this boat because it's won the most races, so it will be restored. It's called "Tuy yo y Ju" translated, me, you and the little one.

This is the boat I scraped, Barabas. It's a favorite of the locals because it's a fast boat.

This one has the ribs restored and is ready for painting.

The project was delayed this week because there was no money for paint, but it came today. Yopi painted the flags of the United States and Bonaire, and the sponsor that paid for the paint will have their emblem painted between the two flags.

Our working area has tents for shade and a large sign from a sponsor in front of the site. 

The sailing center restoration is underway, it appears there's a structure for a viewing stand in the front. The neem trees also need to be taken down. They'll be replaced with a native species. 

For an entertaining look at the project, check out this video: https://vimeo.com/234431330