Braving the Surf on Reeds

BY AWAKE! WRITER IN PERU

An unusual surfing competition attracts people to a beach near the city of Trujillo, Peru. Instead of riding the familiar Hawaiian surfboards, the competitors use “sea horses,” or caballitos del mar. These tiny craft are made out of bundles of totora reeds, which grow here. Each vessel is somewhat like a kayak in form but with a long prow that curves upward, enabling the “sea horse” to clear the breakers. Crouching on top of their boats like horsemen, the surfers propel themselves over the crashing waves with bamboo paddles. Some observers say they look like jockeys leaping the hedges in a steeplechase. What is the origin of these strange vessels?

In a place such as this, where the desert sweeps down to the sea, there are few trees, and therefore there is little timber for boat building. Local craftsmen have learned from their forefathers how to fashion a “sea horse” in just a few minutes. Beginning with the pointed arc of the prow, they tie bundles of totoras together. The craft ends in a stubby stern containing a small compartment for fishing gear as well as a place to store the catch. These reeds are water-resistant on the outside but spongy and buoyant on the inside, making them useful for building boats. Nevertheless, the boats become waterlogged after a year and have to be discarded.

For centuries local fishermen have braved the powerful waves of the Pacific Ocean on these handmade “sea horses.” Now this aspect of their culture is disappearing. Trawlers using industrial fishing methods have overfished the sea, sometimes forcing traditional fishermen to travel miles from the coast in search of fish. But a few descendants of indigenous tribes still use “sea horses” to bring home fish, especially in times of economic hardship when this may be the only way to put food on the table.

Meanwhile, using the “sea horse” for sport continues to provide business for traditional boat builders, as well as to attract tourists interested in ancient culture, who fill rooms in local hotels. Visitors are often heard to say that the “sea horse” regatta at Huanchaco beach is a sight well worth seeing.

[Picture on page 18]

A Pre-Inca ceramic pottery depicting a fisherman on a totora-reed boat

[Credit Line]

Museo Rafael Larco Herrera/Lima, Perú