Boat building in Xop Tu

(Baonghean) - For generations, people in Xop Tu village, My Ly commune, Ky Son district have been making three-leaf wooden boats, supplying people living along the Nam Mo and Nam Non rivers for fishing and passenger transport...

From the upstream wharf of Ban Ve Hydroelectric Lake, about 3 hours by boat, you will reach Xop Tu village of My Ly commune. Xop Tu village looks like a watercolor painting from afar. Tall coconut trees and stilt houses with the characteristics of the Thai people shimmering under the lake surface, giving the appearance of a fertile land. Xop Tu village is divided into 2 banks by a small waist deep into the mountain. In this Thai village, there are currently many groups of craftsmen specializing in building 3-leaf wooden boats for visitors from near and far.

Mr. Lo Van Long rebuilt an old boat for fishing.

Stopping by the village, we immediately met Mr. Lo Van Long who was enthusiastically building a boat. After learning, Mr. Long confided: I have known the boat building profession for a long time, usually 3-4 people form a team of workers, accepting to build boats for others, receiving wages. The boat I am building is an old boat, which I bought from a local for 2 million VND. After buying it, I took it apart, removed all the nails, used a plane to remove the rotten part on the outside, modified it, and rebuilt it into a new boat. Because I had to plan a fairly thick layer, the wooden planks were no longer as thick as a new boat. Therefore, this boat is only used for fishing by the lake, not for carrying passengers. For the new boat, the planks must be 5 cm thick, using de wood and sandalwood to make ladders. In the past, clove wood was usually better than de wood, but because clove wood is increasingly rare, people have long used de wood. The characteristics of de wood are that it rarely cracks and can withstand water for quite a long time. A newly built boat can be used for 5-6 years.

According to Mr. Long, the boat builders here do not build ready-made boats for sale, but only receive wood from people to build according to their requests. Here, people build fishing boats, 9-10 meters long, and passenger boats from 12 meters long or more. Each team of 3 workers undertakes to build a 12-meter-long boat, which takes 5 days to complete, and costs 5 million VND. After 1 year of use, each boat needs to be repaired for safety. Therefore, every year the teams also undertake to repair many boats for people.

The secret to building a standard boat, balancing the gravity when placed on the water, Mr. Long revealed: The craftsman must do it very precisely from the bottom of the boat, especially the bottom board connection. If the connection is not balanced, not strong, the boat will tilt when placed on the water, very difficult to steer, unsafe, so the measuring step must be very precise, the craftsman must also be precise with each chisel stroke.

Mr. Lo Van Thang, the village chief, said: Xop Tu village has existed for many generations, currently has 174 households, 768 people, all of whom are Thai people. The boat building profession of the people appeared decades ago. Previously, people built rowing boats, so they were small and light. Now most of them run motor boats, which are larger in size, so the planks must be thick and sturdy. In the village, there are currently 6 main boat builders, such as Lo Quang Hoa, Lo Van Thang... In particular, Mr. Lo Van Toan, who is over 70 years old, is still a fast and skilled worker. Each person is the head of a team of workers, so in the village there are many teams of workers to take on boat building for people near and far. Since the Ban Ve Hydroelectric Reservoir began to store water, the lake has become a convenient means of transportation for people in the communes of My Ly, Nhon Mai, Mai Son and Huu Khuong. Therefore, the number of newly built boats here is large every year. Therefore, Xop Tu village is always bustling with people coming and going, bustling with the sounds of machines and chisels of boat building teams.

Xuan Hoang