Pelang


Pelang or pilang is a traditional boat from Indonesia and Malaysia. It may refer to several different type of boats in the Nusantara, but commonly they refer to outrigger canoe. The function differs from where they were used, from transporting people, fishing, to trading. Pilang has been known from at least the 14th century.

Etymology

The name "pelang" can be traced from Old Javanese word pelang which means freight boat or a type of ancient merchant boat. The Great Indonesian Dictionary explain it as "trading boat". According to M. Rafiek, pelang is a rather large boat used to sail through the Java sea.
In northern Sulawesi, It was originally a term for a mahera-based boat, but with the influx of Filipino technology, then a boat made of waterproof plywood can also be referred to as a pelang.

Description

In western part of Nusantara, it refers to a large, flat bottomed canoe-like boat with one mast, stepping a lug sail made of cloth. Usually built of giam wood. H. Warington Smyth noted the dimensions of a pilang: About 42 ft long, 5 ft wide, 2 ft 3 in draught, with 1 ft of freeboard. The capacity was 1 koyan. The mast itself is about 40 ft tall.
In the eastern part of Nusantara, the name refers to small, canoe-like outrigger boat. In Northern coast of Sulawesi, pelang refers to outrigger fishing boat. North Sulawesian pelang is about 6-8 m in length, 1 m in width and crewed by 4-6 men. This pelang has an operational range of 5-7 miles. The Mahera does not have enough height to be used as a boat. Thus, the mahera is in the form of the flat keel of wood with a slight curvature. To improve the seaworthiness, additional side planks were added. The side planks are made of marine plywood with some frame construction and side beams as reinforcement. Modern pelang of Northern Sulawesi were equipped with outboard motors. The motor gradually replaced the sail in the 1970s.
There are also pelang that are equipped with lamps and electric generator for light fishing. Lights were used to attract fish for improving the quantity of the catch. The raw material is marine plywood with a length of about 7 m.