Dhoni

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Dhoni

The dhoni is the traditional means of transport in the Maldives . Originally these boats were used for fishing and transporting goods, but now they serve many purposes. Equipped with a diesel engine, the dhonis bring tourists from Male ' , the capital of the Maldives, to the various islands of the atolls, to the starting point of a dive or serve as a tour boat for " island hopping " to neighboring islands.

Traditional production

Dhoni

The construction of a dhoni is the most important handicraft of the Maldivians. The dhoni has remained largely unchanged for centuries. So that the dhonis were perfectly adapted to the water and weather conditions prevailing in the Maldivian atolls, the hulls were made from the very hard and difficult to work wood of the coconut palm. The wood has the property of being so resilient and elastic that even a collision of the boats with the coral reefs, which are often very shallow under the sea surface, does not destroy it. The planks were held together with coconut bast and the square sails were woven from coconut fibers. Outwardly, the dhonis are reminiscent of the dhows used by Arab seafarers .

The Dhoni in this day and age

With the motorization of the dhonis in the 1970s and 1980s, their traditional form changed. The hull became narrower to accommodate the higher speeds achieved by diesel engines. The boat was also given a deck to hide the engine and to create storage space. Copper rivets were used to connect the planks and the square sail was replaced by a triangular latin sail . The shipbuilders largely replaced the wood of the coconut palm with imported hardwoods. In order to enable faster transport to and from the islands, the Dhoni is increasingly being replaced by the much faster, so-called " Maldivian Air Taxi ". Almost all inhabited islands have a Dhoni shipyard or at least a stretch of beach where the ships are repaired. Some islands even specialize in building dhonis. The island of Alifushi in the Raa Atoll, for example, has the reputation of having the best dhoni farmers in the Maldives.

Boat types

The mas dhonis are considered to be the most beautiful, but rarely found dhonis . These about 10 m long and 4 to 5 m wide fishing dhones with sails are specially built for fishing within the protective atoll ring . Since they are very simply built, they would not withstand the conditions outside the reef. The dhonis equipped with engines are the so-called Ingeenu Dhonis (Engine Dhonis). In contrast to the sailing honeys, they can follow the schools of fish beyond the edge of the reef and significantly increase the fishing quota overnight.

Web links

Commons : Dhoni  - collection of images, videos and audio files

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