Palari (boat)

A palari was a type of Indonesian sailing vessel originating in South Sulawesi, now largely superseded by mechanised vessels. Palaris were primarily used by the people of Ara and Lemo Lemo (in the Bulukumba Regency), to transport goods and people. They were rigged using the pinisi rig, which often led to them being better known as pinisi. In Singapore, palaris were known as "makassar traders".

The name is derived from the Makassarese word biseang palari. Biseang means "boat", and lari means "to run" or "running". The word pa is a suffix used in forming nouns designating persons according to their occupation or labor, similarly to the English suffix -or/-er. The meaning of palari would therefore be equivalent to "runner". This description underlines the fact that this vessel was nimbler and faster than its predecessor, the padewakang.

A typical palari would be about 50–70 feet (15.24–21.34 m) in length overall, with a length at the waterline (lightly laden) of 34–43 feet (10.36–13.1 m). The sails were made using light canvas, while the topsails were of linen cloth. The vessel would be crewed by seven or eight men. Steering was achieved using double quarter rudders (a pair of rudders, one hung from each side of the stern quarters of the boat). Under favorable conditions, they could reach 9–10 knots (16.7–18.5 km/h) in speed. A vessel with 30 ft LWL would have a capacity of nearly 400 pikul (22.7–25 tons). Steering was achieved using double quarter rudders (a pair of rudders, connected to each other and hung from either side of the aft quarters of the boat). Under favorable conditions, they could reach 9–10 knots (16.7–18.5 km/h) in speed. A vessel with 30 ft LWL would have a capacity of nearly 400 pikul (22.7–25 tons).

During the 1920s and 1930s, the palari's crew would normally sleep in narrow bunks hung from ropes below the deck. Traditionally, the captain would have a small cabin about 2 m in length and 1 m in height, situated under the stern deck planking. Passengers could be accommodated in temporary cabins built on deck. Cooking was done using clay pots in a movable hearth about 1–2 m high. Cooking would be done by one of the crew, unless a female cook was brought aboard: occasionally the captain's wife would take this role, but generally the crew subsisted primarily on rice. Toilet facilities were located aft, overhanging the stern. Water was stored in jerrycans, drums, and pots.

The palari hull was based on an older type of bost from Sulawesi: the pajala. Pajalas were open coastal vessels usually having a tripod mast carrying a single large tanja sail. The hull was carvel-built, and like other Malay boats, it was double-ended (meaning that the boat came to a point at the bow and stern, finishing with a stem and sternpost). The pajala hull was adapted into a palari by adding more planks to increase the freeboard by about 2–3 feet (61–91 cm). An overhanging stern deck (called ambeng in Malay) was also added, and the whole boat was decked over.

In the 18th century, the Bugis people sailed a type of perahu similar to the patorani. Those craft had a pajala-type hull and were rigged using a canted triangular sail and a tripod mast, similar to a pajala. Vessels of this type were seen trepanging on beaches in northern Australia between 1800 and 1840. In 1880, a boat dubbed "Bugis prahu" seems to have been an early prototype for the palari hull. It featured a western-styled deck with a traditional (indigenous) stern. A bowsprit and jibsail was also been added, but the boat still used a tanja sail on a single tripod mast. There was no cabin at the stern.

This prototype was developed further in later vessels by adding additional planking: raising the freeboard and thereby increasing cargo capacity. A step was set into the bow and the overhanging stern deck (ambeng) was also added.

The first Sulawesian true pinisi (that is, a palari hull combined with a pinisi rig, rather than the tanja rig) is thought to have been a penisiq [sic] built in 1906 by shipbuilders in Ara and Lemo-Lemo for a skipper based in Bira. In addition to the two-masted type, there was also a single-masted variants called palari jengki (also known as the one-masted pinisi). The single-masted boats had a much simpler sail plan. They were rigged with a nade sail (similar to the gunter rig) in the same fashion as lambo boats, occasionally with loose-footed cutter-type headsails (lacking a pekaki, or lower spar).