I just returned home from a trip to South Africa and Mozambique where I saw the most rudimentary boating imaginable. The boat shown below is really just a raft with sides. It's probably a little over 20 feet long with no rudder, no centerboard, sails made out of sheet plastic, and a really large paddle. The paddle blade is made out of a chunk of fiberglass which looked like part of an old boat wreck (shown laying on top of rolled up sail). The whole thing is lashed together with mono. A bailing device is not needed since daylight is visible all over the place.

A fleet of these boats would leave each morning (near Maputo, Mozambique) to go fishing in the Indian Ocean and return in the afternoon with a small string of fish each. They were usually far enough off shore to be out of sight. They must have big cajones. It's a tough and dangerous way to make a living. I can't imagine how they are able to deal with adverse wind or rough weather. These boats cannot possibly sail to windward and paddling would be really slow going due to the rough shape.

Mozambique is one of the poorest third world countries and it showed every where I went.