Kalulis is a type of traditional boat from eastern

Indonesia Indonesia, officially the Republic of Indonesia, is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania between the Indian and Pacific oceans. It consists of over 17,000 islands, including Sumatra, Java, Sulawesi, and parts of Borneo and New Guine ...

. It is mainly built in

Kei islands The Kai Islands (also Kei Islands) of Indonesia are a group of islands in the southeastern part of the Maluku Islands, located in the province of Maluku. The Moluccas have been known as the Spice Islands due to regionally specific plants such ...

, Southeast direction from

Seram Seram (formerly spelled Ceram; also Seran or Serang) is the largest and main island of Maluku province of Indonesia, despite Ambon Island's historical importance. It is located just north of the smaller Ambon Island and a few other adjacent is ...

. It is mainly used for interinsular transport, but they are unsuitable for long haul voyages between

Moluccas The Maluku Islands (; Indonesian: ''Kepulauan Maluku'') or the Moluccas () are an archipelago in the east of Indonesia. Tectonically they are located on the Halmahera Plate within the Molucca Sea Collision Zone. Geographically they are located ...

, Sulawesi, and

Java Java (; id, Jawa, ; jv, ꦗꦮ; su, ) is one of the Greater Sunda Islands in Indonesia. It is bordered by the Indian Ocean to the south and the Java Sea to the north. With a population of 151.6 million people, Java is the world's mos ...

. It is also known as ''perahu kalulis'', ''ang kalulis'', ''kalulus'', and ''kulis''.

Description

These boats is fairly shallow and beamy, and rigged with tanja rig on 1 or 2 masts, presumably in tripod mast. It is steered using double lateral rudders, and having a deckhouse. These boats are internally dowelled and contain lugs on all the planks. In the past, they are lashed together using fiber through carved lugs on the plank interior, but this technique has been disappeared in Kei islands during 1940s. They are between 4.5 and 14 m in length, with beam-to-length ratio varied between 1:2.33 to 1:3. The average depth of 5.25-7.5 m long kalulis was 1.3 m. Kalulis sketch left-back

Since 1945, they have been fitted with fixed wooden ribs (''gading'') and had 5-8 planks. Materials of modern boats were different from older boats: The ropes which was originally made from coconut husk (''tali utis'') and ''gemutu'' (''tali nauk'') were replaced by

polypropylene Polypropylene (PP), also known as polypropene, is a thermoplastic polymer used in a wide variety of applications. It is produced via chain-growth polymerization from the monomer propylene. Polypropylene belongs to the group of polyolefins a ...

ropes. The sail which was made from sago leaf matting or ''karoro'' (''sacking'', ''sorat pisang'' of Java), now being made by cotton or polypropylene cloth, sometimes

polyethylene Polyethylene or polythene (abbreviated PE; IUPAC name polyethene or poly(methylene)) is the most commonly produced plastic. It is a polymer, primarily used for packaging ( plastic bags, plastic films, geomembranes and containers including b ...

sheets.Ellen (2003). p.157. Modern boats used the

gaff Gaff may refer to: Ankle-worn devices * Spurs in variations of cockfighting * Climbing spikes used to ascend wood poles, such as utility poles Arts and entertainment * A character in the ''Blade Runner'' film franchise * Penny gaff, a 19th- ...

and gunter (''nade'') rig. The double lateral rudders (''cangkilan'') generally have been replaced by a centerline rudder.Ellen (2003). p.158. Because they had no

keel The keel is the bottom-most longitudinal structural element on a vessel. On some sailboats, it may have a hydrodynamic and counterbalancing purpose, as well. As the laying down of the keel is the initial step in the construction of a ship, in Br ...

, stability was an issue, so they are not suited for voyage between main islands of Indonesia.

Role

They are used for middle-distance journey between Geser, Gorom, Watubela, Teor, Kei, Tayandu, Aru, and Papuan coasts. These boats are used for transporting passengers and cargo, and occasionally for fishing, turtle hunting, and collecting ''

agar-agar Agar ( or ), or agar-agar, is a jelly-like substance consisting of polysaccharides obtained from the cell walls of some species of red algae, primarily from ogonori (''Gracilaria'') and "tengusa" (''Gelidiaceae''). As found in nature, agar i ...

''. These boats is the traditional mainstay for

sago Sago () is a starch extracted from the pith, or spongy core tissue, of various tropical palm stems, especially those of ''Metroxylon sagu''. It is a major staple food for the lowland peoples of New Guinea and the Maluku Islands, where it is c ...

inter-island trade.

Replica

* One replica of kalulis built by Tim Severin is named ''Alfred Wallace''. The boat is used in "The

Spice Islands A spice is a seed, fruit, root, bark, or other plant substance primarily used for flavoring or coloring food. Spices are distinguished from herbs, which are the leaves, flowers, or stems of plants used for flavoring or as a garnish. Spices are ...

Voyage", the last of Severin's nautical adventures, reenacting naturalist Alfred Russel Wallace's voyage in the archipelago. The 14-metre craft was much smaller than those generally used by Wallace. Severin did have a few modern adaptations: a satellite communications system, a wind generator and a nine-horsepower motor for emergencies.

Description

Role

Replica

See also

References

Further reading