Last December 2008 I joined a group tour by Radical Adventure Concepts and Events to Caramoan Peninsula, Camarines Sur. During the island hopping on the second day we rode a big bangka that has about three crew members. 1 of them is the captain who controls the rudder.
Bangkero resting while waiting for us to settle down
Ingenious way of controlling the boat's engine
I noticed that the engines release of power was dynamic but no hands were controlling the power of the engine.
Amazingly, it was also being controlled by the captain. He was standing with his right leg on the side of the boat to see where we were going, left hand on one of the bamboo poles for his own stability, right hand on another bamboo pole which he moves to control the rudder and the left foot controls the engine by angling it on a small hinge that is attached to the engine via a nylon cord.
INGENIOUS!
Sometimes, the bangkero who controls the engine does what the others do.
Fixing the anchor before leaving