Bilhorod-Dnistrovskyi. The Museum of Robinsons

For Fisherman's Day

One of the most beloved and widespread of folk pastimes is fishing.

Bilhorod-Dnistrovskyi, Odesa region. The Dniester estuary

In Bilhorod-Dnistrovskyi, Odesa region, there is an unusual museum of trophies caught in the course of fishing from the Dniester estuary.

Bilhorod-Dnistrovskyi, Odesa region. The Dniester estuary

This jocular display is located at Pier No. 1 in the northern part of the town, near the Akkerman Fortress.

I ended up there by chance, when I was looking for the entrance to the fortress on a March morning.

Through the fence I saw some funny installations made out of all sorts of junk.

I asked the watchman for permission to come in and to explain what these exhibits actually were.

The material for the decorative sculptures came from all kinds of things: fishing tackle, boots, ropes, oars, snags, all manner of odds and ends washed ashore by the waves, as well as things caught by the fishermen during their trade.

This is where the irrepressible imagination, humour and self-irony of the fishermen came out.

The watchman complained that in March the captions of the compositions had not yet been renewed, and it is in them that the very juice of the authors' ideas lies.

But even so it was clear that fishermen are a remarkable lot, and the inspiration of inventors simply gushes from them like a spring.

Beside these incredible characters, drawn perhaps from fishermen's tall tales, places have been set up for sitting together and for the evening campfire, over which the tastiest fish soup is cooked.

Each crew has its own cosy corner, where the fishermen gather not only out of sporting interest but also to share their fishing experience.

How many instructive stories have been made up and told here — believable ones and ones with a little invention — how many jokes and amusing anecdotes!

The most popular, of course, are those about a fish a metre and a half long and about the size of the catch.

And how clever it is, this fish! But a seasoned angler knows how to outwit it and will always find the most incredible way of catching it.

It is also important to observe the omens. For example, a quarrel with your wife before fishing — 'the fish matters more to you than the family' — guarantees a good catch.

The heroes of these jolly stories and inventions are precisely the exhibits of this open-air display.

The ideal wife ought to have a mortar (like Baba Yaga's) for getting around quickly.

And this is what a man who has come back from fishing looks like.

The fishermen did not forget their beloved mothers-in-law either.

As you name a boat, so it will sail, and so the fishing vessels have names that are anything but sad.

The heads (the ship's latrine) is decorated with decor befitting its purpose.

The little shed at the very tip of the small cape is built of stone and is at least 100 years old.

The place is beautiful and rich in fish, and everything is orderly and clean.

The Dniester estuary is a little over 40 km long and 3 to 12 km wide.

The Dniester flows into it. A narrow spit separates the estuary from the Black Sea, so marine species of fish are caught here — mullet, garfish and flounder.

I wish the fishermen 'neither tail nor scale' (the anglers' good-luck saying) and inexhaustible inspiration in realising their creative ideas.

And that is an absolutely true story about the Museum of Robinsons on the Dniester estuary.