The original Naga Pelangi, bedar, off Singapore, 1981

The term ''bedar'', (in

Terengganu Terengganu (; Terengganu Malay: ''Tranung'', Jawi: ), formerly spelled Trengganu or Tringganu, is a sultanate and constitutive state of federal Malaysia. The state is also known by its Arabic honorific, ''Dāru l- Īmān'' ("Abode of Faith" ...

spelled "bedor"), is applied to a wide variety of boats of the east coast of

Malaysia Malaysia ( ; ) is a country in Southeast Asia. The federation, federal constitutional monarchy consists of States and federal territories of Malaysia, thirteen states and three federal territories, separated by the South China Sea into two r ...

that carry one or two junk sails and lack the typical

transom stern The stern is the back or aft-most part of a ship or boat, technically defined as the area built up over the sternpost, extending upwards from the counter rail to the taffrail. The stern lies opposite the bow, the foremost part of a ship. Ori ...

of the

perahu Proas are various types of multi-hull outrigger sailboats of the Austronesian peoples. The terms were used for native Austronesian ships in European records during the Colonial era indiscriminately, and thus can confusingly refer to the do ...

pinas Pinas is a commune in the Hautes-Pyrénées department in south-western France. See also *Communes of the Hautes-Pyrénées department An intentional community is a voluntary residential community which is designed to have a high degree ...

''. These junk rigged boats are usually built in the

area. The stern of the bedar is a classical "canu" or "

pinky stern The stern is the back or aft-most part of a ship or boat, technically defined as the area built up over the sternpost, extending upwards from the counter rail to the taffrail. The stern lies opposite the bow, the foremost part of a ship. ...

," being a typical "double ender", a bit like a modern ship's

lifeboat Lifeboat may refer to: Rescue vessels * Lifeboat (shipboard), a small craft aboard a ship to allow for emergency escape * Lifeboat (rescue), a boat designed for sea rescues * Airborne lifeboat, an air-dropped boat used to save downed airmen ...

, with a very full turn of the

bilge The bilge of a ship or boat is the part of the hull that would rest on the ground if the vessel were unsupported by water. The "turn of the bilge" is the transition from the bottom of a hull to the sides of a hull. Internally, the bilges (usu ...

and with markedly raked

stem Stem or STEM may refer to: Plant structures * Plant stem, a plant's aboveground axis, made of vascular tissue, off which leaves and flowers hang * Stipe (botany), a stalk to support some other structure * Stipe (mycology), the stem of a mushr ...

and

stern The stern is the back or aft-most part of a ship or boat, technically defined as the area built up over the sternpost, extending upwards from the counter rail to the taffrail. The stern lies opposite the bow, the foremost part of a ship. Ori ...

. They came in small versions as small one-masted

fishing vessels A fishing vessel is a boat or ship used to catch fish in the sea, or on a lake or river. Many different kinds of vessels are used in commercial, artisanal and recreational fishing. The total number of fishing vessels in the world in 2016 was es ...

— anak bedar ( Malay for child bedar) and were built as big as 90 feet over deck (

LOD Lod ( he, לוד, or fully vocalized ; ar, اللد, al-Lidd or ), also known as Lydda ( grc, Λύδδα), is a city southeast of Tel Aviv and northwest of Jerusalem in the Central District of Israel. It is situated between the lower Shephe ...

). The majority of the bedars were usually 45 to 60 feet (13.7–18.3 m) over deck. The bedar, like all Terengganu boats, was built of Chengal wood by the

Malays Malays may refer to: * Malay race, a racial category encompassing peoples of Southeast Asia and sometimes the Pacific Islands ** Overseas Malays, people of Malay race ancestry living outside Malay archipelago home areas ** Cape Malays, a communit ...

since the 19th century and roamed the

South China Sea The South China Sea is a marginal sea of the Western Pacific Ocean. It is bounded in the north by the shores of South China (hence the name), in the west by the Indochinese Peninsula, in the east by the islands of Taiwan and northwestern Phil ...

and adjacent oceans as a highly seaworthy traditional sailing vessel.

Etymology

The Malay word ''bedar'' means an elongated and flattened beak, broadening towards the tip (i.e. like the bill of a

platypus The platypus (''Ornithorhynchus anatinus''), sometimes referred to as the duck-billed platypus, is a semiaquatic, egg-laying mammal endemic to eastern Australia, including Tasmania. The platypus is the sole living representative or monot ...

Description

The bedar is a sailing junk that is mainly built in the kuala (English: rivermouth) of the

Terengganu River The Terengganu River ( ms, Sungai Terengganu) is a river in Terengganu, Malaysia. Originated from Lake Kenyir, it flows through the state capital of Terengganu, Kuala Terengganu, and flows into the South China Sea. It is bridged by the Sultan Mahm ...

. The smaller and medium-sized bedars often had a fine slanting projecting

prow The bow () is the forward part of the hull of a ship or boat, the point that is usually most forward when the vessel is underway. The aft end of the boat is the stern. Prow may be used as a synonym for bow or it may mean the forward-most part of ...

of various lengths and a short one at the similarly built stern. The bowsprit was resting on top of this forward projection which is called ''sudu'' (English: spoon or duck's bill).Gibson-Hill (1949). p. 113. The boats equipped with a sudu were referred to as ''bedar luang sudu'' (from Malay word ''sudu'': spoon, or ''sudu itek'': duck's bill). The conspicuous

sheer (ship) The sheer is a measure of longitudinal main deck curvature, in naval architecture. The sheer forward is usually twice that of sheer aft. Increases in the rise of the sheer forward and aft build volume into the hull, and in turn increase its buoy ...

of the bedar varied as well. The smaller ones with a long projection having more sheer and the bigger ones with a short sudu and short sheer. Bedars above 70 feet (21 m) rarely carried a long sudu but featured almost straight stem and stern posts, very much like the bedar Dapat.Cargo Boats of the East Coast of Malaya, Gibson-Hill, C.A. (1949), JMBRAS 22(3), p. 106-125. The Bedar Dapat, off loaded Kuala Terengganu, 1981

The Bedar Dapat, off loaded Kuala Terengganu, 1981

Like the pinas, the bedar over 45 feet/13.7 m (

), carried two masts, one in the bow, called "topan", slightly raked forward; The main mast, called "agung" was placed a bit forward of the center of the boat. The bedar had a very long bowsprit, slightly bent downwards by the

bobstay A bobstay is a part of the rigging of a sailing boat or ship. Its purpose is to counteract the upward tension on the bowsprit from the jibs and forestay. A bobstay may run directly from the stem to the bowsprit, Both masts carried a fully

batten A batten is most commonly a strip of solid material, historically wood but can also be of plastic, metal, or fiberglass. Battens are variously used in construction, sailing, and other fields. In the lighting industry, battens refer to linea ...

ed lug or "junk-sail" of typical Chinese design. These sails were not made of cloth but of a matting material called "tikal" that is also used for floor matting and other purposes. Like most junk sails the battens were made of

bamboo Bamboos are a diverse group of evergreen perennial flowering plants making up the subfamily Bambusoideae of the grass family Poaceae. Giant bamboos are the largest members of the grass family. The origin of the word "bamboo" is uncertain, ...

, usually creating 6 individual panels to the sail. The

halyard In sailing, a halyard or halliard is a line (rope) that is used to hoist a ladder, sail, flag or yard. The term ''halyard'' comes from the phrase "to haul yards". Halyards, like most other parts of the running rigging, were classically made of ...

was attached almost in the middle of the

sail A sail is a tensile structure—which is made from fabric or other membrane materials—that uses wind power to propel sailing craft, including sailing ships, sailboats, windsurfers, ice boats, and even sail-powered land vehicles. Sails ma ...

, and since the luff, or edges, of the sail was nearly straight and only about half the length of the markedly convex

leech Leeches are segmented parasitic or predatory worms that comprise the subclass Hirudinea within the phylum Annelida. They are closely related to the oligochaetes, which include the earthworm, and like them have soft, muscular segmented b ...

, the yard, when hoisted, was sitting in an angle of about 15° – 20° with the vertical. The foresail was set on the port side of the topan and the

mainsail A mainsail is a sail rigged on the main mast of a sailing vessel. * On a square rigged vessel, it is the lowest and largest sail on the main mast. * On a fore-and-aft rigged vessel, it is the sail rigged aft of the main mast. The sail's foot ...

on the

starboard Port and starboard are nautical terms for watercraft and aircraft, referring respectively to the left and right sides of the vessel, when aboard and facing the bow (front). Vessels with bilateral symmetry have left and right halves which a ...

side of the agung. A relatively small

jib A jib is a triangular sail that sets ahead of the foremast of a sailing vessel. Its tack is fixed to the bowsprit, to the bows, or to the deck between the bowsprit and the foremost mast. Jibs and spinnakers are the two main types of headsail ...

was set on the bowsprit. All bedars, even those up to or more than 80 feet (24 m) were steered by a

tiller A tiller or till is a lever used to steer a vehicle. The mechanism is primarily used in watercraft, where it is attached to an outboard motor, rudder post or stock to provide leverage in the form of torque for the helmsman to turn the rudder ...

with a pulley block system easing the strain on a conventional

rudder A rudder is a primary control surface used to steer a ship, boat, submarine, hovercraft, aircraft, or other vehicle that moves through a fluid medium (generally air or water). On an aircraft the rudder is used primarily to counter adverse yaw a ...

hinged on the stern post. This tiller was operated from within the round cabin (cup) on the ''dandan'' platform over the stern. The hold stored cargo. The hull of the bedar is influenced by the Arab

dhow Dhow ( ar, داو, translit=dāwa; mr, script=Latn, dāw) is the generic name of a number of traditional sailing vessels with one or more masts with settee or sometimes lateen sails, used in the Red Sea and Indian Ocean region. Typically sp ...

with their long raked stemposts and the dows often being double ended vessels.

Building technique

Che Ali bin Ngah building the bedar Naga Pelangi, 1981

The bedar boats of Terengganu are built using indigenous Malaysian techniques to build wooden boats. They build without plans, hull first, frames later. The planks are fire bent and joined edge on edge ( carvel) using "basok" (wooden dowels) made from ''Penaga'' —

ironwood Ironwood is a common name for many woods or plants that have a reputation for hardness, or specifically a wood density that is heavier than water (approximately 1000 kg/m3, or 62 pounds per cubic foot), although usage of the name ironwood in E ...

(

Mesua ferrea ''Mesua ferrea'', the Ceylon ironwood, or cobra saffron, is a species in the family Calophyllaceae. This slow-growing tree is named after the heaviness and hardness of its timber. It is widely cultivated as an ornamental due to its graceful sh ...

). Rather than the European style

caulking Caulk or, less frequently, caulking is a material used to seal joints or seams against leakage in various structures and piping. The oldest form of caulk consisted of fibrous materials driven into the wedge-shaped seams between boards on ...

hammered into a groove between the planks, a strip of ''kulit gelam'' (English: paperbarks skin) of the

Melaleuca ''Melaleuca'' () is a genus of nearly 300 species of plants in the myrtle family, Myrtaceae, commonly known as paperbarks, honey-myrtles or tea-trees (although the last name is also applied to species of '' Leptospermum''). They range in size ...

species is placed over the dowels before the new plank is hammered home. This 1 – 2 mm layer of a natural material has remarkable sealing properties.

History

The tradition of building wooden boats in modern Malaysia reaches far back in time, involving overseas trade, fishing, piracy, travelling up the many rivers. For each purpose they developed a special design.Keeping the Tradition of Boatbuilding Alive, Keith Ingram, Magazine: Professional Skipper March/April 2007, p. 70. With

Malacca Malacca ( ms, Melaka) is a state in Malaysia located in the southern region of the Malay Peninsula, next to the Strait of Malacca. Its capital is Malacca City, dubbed the Historic City, which has been listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site s ...

becoming the main trading centre for the spices arriving from the

Moluccas Islands 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 e ...

(Indonesia), the

Malay Peninsula The Malay Peninsula ( Malay: ''Semenanjung Tanah Melayu'') is a peninsula in Mainland Southeast Asia. The landmass runs approximately north–south, and at its terminus, it is the southernmost point of the Asian continental mainland. The are ...

turned into a melting pot of the seafaring, trading civilisations: Indians and Chinese, Arabs and Indonesians, Vietnamese and Thai, Burmese, Europeans and others, they all arrived in their distinctive craft, inspiring the Malay shipbuilding. The two “Perahu Besar”, (English: big boat) of Terengganu, the ''pinas'' and the ''bedar'' are the result of this cultural interchange. Jib and bowsprit of the two are of western origin, with junks almost never carrying one. The boatbuilders of Terengganu were rediscovered during the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...

by the

Japanese navy , abbreviated , also simply known as the Japanese Navy, is the maritime warfare branch of the Japan Self-Defense Forces, tasked with the naval defense of Japan. The JMSDF was formed following the dissolution of the Imperial Japanese Navy (IJN ...

who had wooden

minesweeper A minesweeper is a small warship designed to remove or detonate naval mines. Using various mechanisms intended to counter the threat posed by naval mines, minesweepers keep waterways clear for safe shipping. History The earliest known usage of ...

s built there by the carpenters and fishing folks. There were 5 bedars built for westerners since 1945:Boats, Boatbuilding and Fishing in Malaysia, ''The Malaysian Branch of the Royal Asiatic Society'', MBRAS 2009, p. 349-350,

Gallery

File:The bedar Naga Pelangi doing 6 knots.jpg, The bedar Naga Pelangi at 6 knots beating to windward off the coast of Terengganu, 1998 File:The bedar Naga Pelangi, (L.o.D. 45 feet), 1998.jpg, The bedar Naga Pelangi 45'/13.7 m (

) sailing wing to wing near Pulau Perhentian off the Terengganu coast, 1998 File:The Naga Pelangi before launching, 1981.jpg, The bedar Naga Pelangi before launching, Duyong, 1981 File:The bedar Burong Bahri, 1980.jpg, The Burong Bahri, a 32'/9.7 m (LOD) bedar anchored in Pulau Kapas, 1980 File:B-4-Bedar Burong Bahri-L.o.D 32 Feet.jpg, The bedar Burong Bahri of Jerry Williams File:Bedar Jusa Laut (L.o.D. ca 28 feet), 1994.jpg, The Jusa Laut, a 28'/8.5 m (LOD) bedar, sailed by Michael Munro off the coast of Terengganu, 1994 File:A 45 foot bedar off the coast of Terengganu, 1981.jpg, One of the last original bedar freighters 45' (LOD) sailing up to Thailand, 1981 File:One of the last working bedars manouvering under sail.jpg, One of the last working bedars 45' (LOD) manoeuvering in port under Topan only, 1980 File:The Bedar Cinta Jaya.jpg, The Cinta Jaya, a 45' (LOD) working bedar in the estuary of the Terengganu river, 1980 File:The Bedar Cinta Jaya (L.o.D. 45 Feet), Kuala Terengganu, 1980 night coming.jpg, The Cinta Jaya, 1980, sitting in front of Pulau Duyong File:The Bedar Cinta Jaya (L.o.D. 45 Feet), Kuala Terengganu, 1980.jpg, Two working bedars both about 45' (LOD) sitting in front of chinatown in Kuala Terengganu, waiting to unload their cargo, 1980 File:A small original old bedar before repair, 1979.jpg, A very old bedar (28') waiting to be repaired, Duyong island, 1979 File:Bedar in Kuala Terengganu 1980.jpg, Two working bedars (both about 45' LOD) waiting for the season to sail up to Thailand on a salt run, Terengganu, 1980 File:Stern detail of the bedar Dapat, Terengganu 1980.jpg, Detail of overhanging stern poop deck (''dandan'') of a traditional working bedar, the Dapat 86'/26 m (LOD), 1980 File:Building the bedar Naga Pelangi, 1981, fitting the frames.jpg, Building the bedar Naga Pelangi, fitting the frames, Duyong, 1981 File:The building of the bedar Naga Pelangi, 1981.jpg, The owner of the Naga Pelangi lending a hand, Duyong 1981 File:Hasni bin Ali building the bedar Naga Pelangi, 1981.jpg, Hasni Ali building the bedar Naga Pelangi, Duyong, 1981

References

External links

The homepage of a Terengganu junkJunk Rig Association
*Th
Voyage of the Dragon King, Details of the junk rig, include a diagrams and photosMagazine "Professional Skipper" article about the boatbuilding in DuyongChengal wood
{{Austronesian ships Schooners Ships of Malaysia Chinese inventions Ship types