Pinisi | Exotic Jewel from Celebes Lagoon

Ahh.. shallow water under feeble light from among cliffs' crevices, sweet breeze of swirling south wind. What else would people need to inspire themselves to sail upon the turquoise sea?



A forgotten custom of exploration for what surrounded 70% of earth surface; some people retained a way of living on the coast by building a traditional sailing ship. This passionate profession has been preserved by the inhabitant of Celebes island, though some of them have migrated to neighboring Borneo island.

Celebes Island

This tradition was originating from one of the major islands in Indonesia, Celebes, the South region. Its geographical shape is some stretches of elongated land that can also reversely interpreted as the elongated body of the sea that stretches into the land, making a Brobdingnagian lagoon.

Pinisi

Design

This ship is a fore and aft gaff sailing schooner dating back to the 15th century. Pinisi is commonly equipped with two masts (fore and after) and seven sails. Each mast is divided into main (Tiang Agung) and upper mast, (Tiang) rigged with a boom (foot spar {pole}) and a gaff (upper spar {pole}) or Bau to control the sail.



Fastened to each mast are a mainsail (Sombala) and a topsail (Tanpasere). The remaining sails are three jibs in a forward (Cocoro Pantara), middle (Cocoro Tangnga), and behind (Tarengke) position. The jibs are tied to a triangularly shaped bowsprit on the front deck (Anjong).

The hull is more Asian styled with sharply raked stem and stern that resembles Arabian Dhow rather than European Galleons' plumb stern. It also utilizing center rudder.



This ship can reach 50 meters long and to 600 tons weight.

Shipbuilding

Because of its autochthonous inheritance attribute, the building method employs many ceremonial steps along the technical phases.

Selecting Wood

Wood selection day is often to be chosen on the 5th and 7th day of the month. This is due to the meaning of number five as naparilimai dalle’na or "Fortune is on Hand", and number seven as natujuangngi dalle’na or "Always Merit Fortune". On the decided day, the head constructor that is called Panrita Lopi will lead the search for timber (annakbang kalabiseang ceremony).



In the Celebes and Borneo flourished rainforest, what considered as marine quality woods are Ulin or Ironwood (Eusideroxylon zwageri) and Benuas (Shorea laevifolia Endert) wood.



Ulin is one of the most sturdy and heaviest timbers in the world. It grows at the altitude of up to 2050.52 ft lowland forest and requires 2500-4000 mm of annual average rainfall. It was found to be the oldest plant in Indonesia achieving a thousand year of age. Its tough attribute is supported by its resistance to termite and marine organism, granting 20 years and more of marine employment lasting time.



Benuas is also a marine quality timber that is less heavy than Ulin but makes a great plank and deck as it's easier to work with. It grows in a forest up to 1968.5 to 3280.84 ft altitude. The tree can achieve 75 m tall and 148 cm diameter at breast height.



Wood is cut into timber following its grain pattern to clinch its robustness. After sufficient amount, timbers are gathered and sunbathed.

Construction

1. Skeg

The first timber to be put into work is the skeg (lunas) as the base of the plank. The skeg is positioned facing Northeast. The front skeg is a male symbol, while the back is a female. After a prayer from Panrita Lopi, 25 cm of the timber ends is then marked to be cut. The cutting process with a saw must be done without a rest.



Severed skegs' tip shall not touch the ground. The fore tip is then thrown to the sea as a symbol of a husband that ready to sails the ocean to makes a living, while the rear tip is kept in the home as a symbol of a wife faithfully wait for the husband to brings back sustenance (annattara ceremony).



2. Plank

Planking is constructed with the narrowest to the widest board from bottom to the top with the total of 126 boards. It consists of sinking (Papan Terasa) and body (Papan Lamma) plank. The sinking plank is boards that always in touch with water, whether the body are the upper one commonly in three to five stackking.

The boards are connected in a laso or jambatang coupling and stacked into each level using wooden bolt (Pasok Kalli) in around 20 cm gap from each other.



3. Plank's frame

Mould frames are then fitted and attached to the plank. This method is somewhat a combination of clinker (plank first) and carvel (frame fastened to plank) method. Other than trunnel, modern Pinisi is also fastened using steel bolt, making it more solid.



4. Deck

The deck is commonly built with teak that can be adjusted for a cargo or a yacht look, both caulked with a traditional mixture of palm oil and lime.



5. Gap Sealing


Gaps between boards are sealed with majun that is a fiber from the bark of the local tree (a'panisi).



6. Caulking


The mixture of palm oil and lime is used to caulk all of the board (allepa).  It stirred for 12 hours by six workers. A hundred tons of ship will require twenty kilograms of caulk. The caulking is then scrubbed with tree barks and papaya rinds.



7. Appasili Ceremony


Splashing the ships' surrounding with a bowl of water with a bundle of Taha Siri, Sinrolo, Taha Tinappasa, Sidingding, and Panno-Panno leaves banded by Pimping.



8. Cattle Slaughtering Ceremony


A goat for a hundred ton weighted ship or a cow for a more than a hundred ton weighted ship. Afterwards, the fore lower than knee part is cut and hanged under the front deck, while the hind leg is hanged under the stern. A symbol of hope for a smooth launching of the schooner.



9. Center Point


The center point of the ship is then decided (Amossi ceremony). This is due to the belief that the schooner is the child of the Panrita Lopi and so, its center as the representation of a baby's navel is defined because it's about to be cut in the launching procession.



10. Mast


The mast height is defined based on the perimeter of the ship's body. The mast height is measured from the deck above, not from the skeg. The mast installation is done on the shore after the ship's body is pulled into the sea by a boat.



11. Launching


The launching is happening at the time of high tide. Panrita Lopi sits on the port side of the skeg while giving a prayer. It's usually launched with its trained crew onboard.



History


This sailing schooner history is dating back to the legend of Sawerigading from the "Lontarak I Babad La Lagaligo" scripture. It tells the story of Sawerigading, the crown prince of Luwu kingdom that went to propose We Cudai, the princess of Tiongkok (China). In order to do it, he built the supposedly first Pinisi and went to China. He succeeded and married her later. After a while living in China, he went home aboard the Pinisi. When entering Luwu's water, the ship was hit by waves and was split into three parts.



The ships' body was stranded to Ara village, the sails to Bira coast, and the skeg - some also said the loads - to Tanah Lemo. This became the origin of the division of works they do. Ara people became the ship constructors, Bira inhabitant became great sailors by learning navigation, and Lemo settlers became the foreman that understood how the Pinisi is built.



There's also a story from the 19th century that tells about a European man of France or Germany origin. He was fleeing from European ship to a land named Kuala Trengganu and then wed a local woman. Later on, King of Trengganu asked the man to build a ship that could compete with the western ship, and so the built schooner was made as the royal ship. That first ship and its western builder named Martin Perrot was seen and met by an English navigator in 1846 when anchoring to a port.



Subsequently, the schooner became a blueprint of the following sailing ship and upgraded the earlier Padewakkang sailing boat (Borobudur boat), that said to be named Pinas from Pinasse from French or German vocab that used to call a medium-sized ship. Though, modern Pinisi had undergone many changes such as utilization of motor, double layered deck, manufacture made of a chemical mixture for caulking, and replacement of double-ended hull.

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This ship is the sole surviving big wooden sailing schooner that is still routinely be made nowadays. Its building process requires no mathematical measurement, all done only in the comparison of the foreman's eyesight to the ships' body with the horizon, because, the horizon is always in a complete level state. Ceremonies and prayers are also contributing much, making its one to two years commencement a festival of its own.



Deeper philosophically, the number of its components has its own meaning. Seven sails tell a story that the people used to sail seven seas in the past. seven sails also signify the number of seven verses of Surah Al- Fatihah, the opening chapter of the Qur'an, whether two masts represent two sentences of the Shahada.





What radiated from Pinisi is mostly its artistic sense, a hand-made sea-craft built by inherited tradition. this schooner is also designated as Masterpiece of Oral and Intangible Heritage of Humanity by UNESCO at the 12th Session of the Unique Cultural Heritage Committee, December 7,  2017.



No steel-made ship can appropriately emit the same aesthetic value from the conception until its voyage across the ocean. Like "Ombak Putih", a Pinisi operated as a cruising yacht in Indonesia; with waving blue sails from afar, the ship is giving its modest white toned body a palm caulking greeting to the hospitable exotic tropical sea. A view of flamboyant subtlety along the lavish Islands.