''Tataya'' are traditional small fishing boats, with or without

outriggers An outrigger is a projecting structure on a boat, with specific meaning depending on types of vessel. Outriggers may also refer to legs on a wheeled vehicle that are folded out when it needs stabilization, for example on a crane that lifts he ...

of the

Ivatan people The Ivatan people are an Austronesian ethnolinguistic group native to the Batanes and Babuyan Islands of the northernmost Philippines. They are genetically closely related to other ethnic groups in Northern Luzon, but also share close linguis ...

in the

Philippines The Philippines, officially the Republic of the Philippines, is an Archipelagic state, archipelagic country in Southeast Asia. Located in the western Pacific Ocean, it consists of List of islands of the Philippines, 7,641 islands, with a tot ...

. They are generally round-hulled and powered by rowers or sails made from woven

pandanus ''Pandanus'' is a genus of monocots with about 578 accepted species. They are palm-like, dioecious trees and shrubs native to the Old World tropics and subtropics. Common names include pandan, screw palm and screw pine. The genus is classified ...

leaves. They have several variants based on size and island of origin. The term can also be used for all traditional boats in the

Batanes Islands Batanes, officially the Province of Batanes (; ilocano language, Ilocano: ''Probinsia ti Batanes''; , ), is an archipelagic province in the Philippines, administratively part of the Cagayan Valley regions of the Philippines, region. It is the n ...

in general, similar to the term ''bangka'' in the rest of the Philippines.

Types

Size

The following are the traditional types of ''tataya'' based on size: * – also known as or , are the largest types of ''tataya''. They are around long, wide, and deep. They can carry two rowers and one tiller, as well as an additional eight passengers. * – shorter than the suhuan but proportionally wider. It has two pairs of

thole pin Thole is a surname. Notable people with the surname include: * Josh Thole (born 1986), American baseball player * Julius Thole (born 1997), German beach volleyball player * Kik Thole (born 1944), Dutch field hockey player * Karel Thole (1 ...

s () for rowers. It is around to wide and deep. * – a small ''tataya'' used for hook and line fishing. It can carry two people, but is usually only crewed by one. It is in length and in width. * – a single-person ''tataya''. It is long, wide, and deep. * – also known as . A single-person ''tataya'' made from a single

dugout canoe A dugout canoe or simply dugout is a boat made from a hollowed-out tree. Other names for this type of boat are logboat and monoxylon. ''Monoxylon'' (''μονόξυλον'') (pl: ''monoxyla'') is Greek''mono-'' (single) + '' ξύλον xylon'' (tr ...

. It is around long, wide, and deep.

Region

Batan

The ''tataya'' of

Batan Island Batan Island ( ) is the main island of Batanes, an archipelagic province in the Philippines. It is the second largest of the Batanes Islands, the northernmost group of islands in the Philippines. Geography Batan is a dumbbell-shaped volcanic is ...

are generally divided into four types: the Basco and Mahato ''tataya'', the

Ivana Ivana is a feminine given name of Slavic origin that is also popular in southern Ireland, France, French-speaking Canada, the Mediterranean and Latin America. It is the feminine form of the name Ivan, which are both the Slavic cognates of the n ...

''tataya'', and the

Uyugan Uyugan, officially the Municipality of Uyugan (; Ilocano: ''Ili ti Uyugan''; ), is a municipality in the province of Batanes, Philippines. According to the 2020 census, it had a population of 1,380 people, making it the least populated town in ...

''tataya''. Basco and Mahatao ''tataya'' share the same fishing grounds and thus are identical in construction. The boats are rounded with thin ribs () and four

strake On a vessel's Hull (watercraft), hull, a strake is a longitudinal course of Plank (wood), planking or Plate (metal), plating which runs from the boat's stem (ship), stempost (at the Bow (ship), bows) to the stern, sternpost or transom (nautica ...

s () at the sides, including the topmost strake, the . The prow is raised higher than the rest of the boat. Ivana ''tataya'' are built for maneuverability. Sitting slightly lower than Uyugan ''tataya''. The ribs are squared and thin, while the

keel The keel is the bottom-most longitudinal structural element of a watercraft, important for stability. On some sailboats, it may have a fluid dynamics, hydrodynamic and counterbalancing purpose as well. The keel laying, laying of the keel is often ...

() and the lowest strakes () are carved from a single log. It does not have a plank-sheer () unlike other ''tataya''. Uyugan ''tataya'' are heavier than the other ''tataya''. They are shorter than the Basco and Mahatao ''tataya''. They sit higher than Sabtang and Ivana ''tataya'' on the water. The strakes are thick and they have an open side.

Itbayat

''Tataya'' from the island of

Itbayat Itbayat, officially the Municipality of Itbayat, (; Ilocano: ''Ili ti Itbayat''; ), is a municipality in the province of Batanes, Philippines. In the 2020 census, it had a population of 3,128 people. Itbayat is the country's northernmost muni ...

are built for stability due to the rougher waters around the island. They have a wide body and a flat bottom. They have five strakes. The prow and the stern are also characteristically rounded, unlike those of other ''tataya'' which are pointed. It is the only type of ''tataya'' with

outrigger An outrigger is a projecting structure on a boat, with specific meaning depending on types of vessel. Outriggers may also refer to legs on a wheeled vehicle that are folded out when it needs stabilization, for example on a crane that lifts he ...

s (), which is generally reserved for the larger types of Ivatan boats. Other tataya do not have outriggers.

Sabtang

''Tataya'' from the island of

Sabtang Sabtang, officially the Municipality of Sabtang (; ilocano language, Ilocano: ''Ili ti Sabtang''; ), is a municipality of the Philippines, municipality in the Philippine Province, province of Batanes, Philippines. According to the 2020 census, i ...

have very shallow and pointed sterns. The thole pins are fastened to a third-tier plank (''pinatapid'') attached to the topmost strake ().

References

{{Fishing vessel topics Indigenous ships of the Philippines