Kalulis is a type of traditional boat from easternIndonesia. It is mainly built inKei islands, Southeast direction fromSeram. It is mainly used for interinsular transport, but they are unsuitable for long haul voyages betweenMoluccas,Sulawesi, andJava.[1] It is also known asperahu kalulis,ang kalulis,kalulus, andkulis.[2]
These boats is fairly shallow and beamy, and rigged withtanja rig on 1 or 2 masts,[3] presumably in tripod mast.[2] It is steered using double lateral rudders, and having a deckhouse.[3] These boats are internallydowelled and containlugs on all the planks.[4] 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.[5]
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 Materials of modern boats were different from older boats: The ropes which was originally made fromcoconut husk (tali utis) andgemutu (tali nauk) were replaced bypolypropylene ropes. The sail which was made from sago leaf matting orkaroro (sacking,sorat pisang of Java), now being made by cotton or polypropylene cloth, sometimespolyethylene sheets.[6] Modern boats used thegaff andgunter (nade) rig. The double lateral rudders (cangkilan) generally have been replaced by a centerline rudder.[7] Because they had nokeel, stability was an issue, so they are not suited for voyage between main islands of Indonesia.[3]
They are used for middle-distance journey between Geser, Gorom, Watubela, Teor, Kei,Tayandu,Aru, andPapuan coasts. These boats are used for transporting passengers and cargo, and occasionally for fishing, turtle hunting, and collectingagar-agar. These boats is the traditional mainstay forsago inter-island trade.[6]
