Indonesian Coast Guard Boat in Manokwari Harbor

When I was in Manokwari harbor last month, I saw a mono-hull fast boat parking at the pier. The background of this boat was the building of West Papua's provincial house of representative. It belongs to KPLP which stands for Kesatuan Penjagaan Laut dan Pantai or simply the coast guard of Indonesia. Because most of its hull and superstructure are made of FRP material, the boat is light and can move very fast on the water.

I didn't see any armaments installed on the main deck of the boat. Perhaps only the Indonesian navy that is allowed to have guns aboard their patrol boats and ships to defend the territory of Indonesian. So, the main task of the KPLP boat, perhaps, is to oversee the water from smugglers, or foreign fishing boats. I did not have any chances of exploring its interior because there was no one inside the boat. In my opinion, it looks more like a pleasure boat than a coast guard boat.
To run in higher speed on the surface of the water, the boat needs to have smaller block coefficient and powerful engine. Smaller Cb will compromise the size and arrangement of the rooms inside the hull. Because patrol boat is used mostly for one day trip at sea, it will not be a problem for its crews. by Charles Roring
Also read: Inflatable boat

Archicad Tutorials

A lot of people land on this blog after typing archicad on the search engine. I know that I used to discuss a number of features of the BIM software that are related to house design but now I don't write about them anymore. Sometimes I talk about wooden house design or present my own building design that I make using Google Sketchup, another 3D modelling software that can be used by architects or other designers to visualize their design concepts on the computer screen in 3D models.
Since Archicad 12, Graphisoft as the company that creates the BIM software, a special add on called EcoDesigner has been introduced to help architects make evaluation about the energy consumption of the buildings or houses which they design. Because most of the house owners demand their houses to be environmentally friendly or consume less energy, architects need the EcoDesigner add on to assess whether their designs have met the requirements or not.
So, if you are looking for tutorials on how to use Archicad, you can read my old posts or go to the official website of Archicad i.e., Graphisoft.com and then click the Education tab at the top bar of the website. There, you will find a lot of training modules that have been prepared for anybody who is willing to master the architectural software. Graphisoft develops the software for architects but not for naval architects who study ship design. The appropriate software for them are Delftship, Maxsurf, Rhino Marine and etc.
My articles about Archicad
Archicad 12 software for Architects
Archicad promotion in Indonesia
Archicad and Revit for House Design
Creating a rounded corner wall in Archicad
Designing simple bedroom with Archicad
Designing round wall room with Archicad
Dimensioning of round wall in Archicad
How to design roof with Archicad

FRP Boat used by a fisherman in Manokwari bay

FRP or Fiberglass Reinforced Plastic is a kind of material that is used in the construction of small boat. One day, when I was guiding some Dutch tourists to a jetty in Kwawi area of Manokwari, I saw an outrigger FRP boat that was approaching the beach. Its main hull was made of FRP material but its outriggers were made of wood and bamboo. FRP is light and anti corrosive. However, it is not easy to find FRP materials in Manokwari. That's why most of the fishermen still use wood and bamboo to make their boats.

Most of the outrigger boats are powered with Yamaha outboards with 3 bladed propellers. The Yamaha outboards are available in 15, 25, and 40 horse power. In addition to Yamaha, other outboards manufacturers are Mariner, Johnson, and Honda. But Yamaha is the most popular engine for the fishermen.
Manokwari is the capital of West Papua province in the bird's head region (vogelkop) of New Guinea island. Its waters is rich of coral reef fish and deep sea fish due to its location that is facing the Pasific Ocean. Tourists who come to Manokwari can enjoy fishing, snorkeling, or wave surfing. Those who like mountains and rainforest can go hiking in Arfak mountains to watch wild animals such as birds of paradise, cuscus and tree kangaroo. When guiding tourists for snorkeling off the coast of Mansinam island or Anggresi beach, I always rent a boat from a fisherman. His boat is not made of FRP materials but the conventional wood but its design is very similar to the outrigger FRP boat above.
Related articles: Wooden boats in the Dorey bay of Manokwari, Passenger boat and ferry boat in Manokwari harbor

Toyota Hilux Pickup Trucks the Prefered Transport Car in the Arfak mountains

Here is the picture of Toyota Hilux G Series that is usually used by tourists who want to go to Arfak mountains for hiking and birdwatching. In Kwau village of Arfak mountains, tourists can watch bowerbird, magnificent birds of paradise, western parotia and various other species that are endemic to vogelkop region of New Guinea island. The steep terrains of Arfak mountains are the main obstacles for non-4WD cars to reach the mountains. The rental cost from Manokwari to Kwau village is 2 million rupiahs (return) which is approximately equivalent to around 229 US dollars.

Before the Hilux series pickup trucks were launched in Manokwari, people use Toyota Hardtop cars. However, these cars consumed more fuel to climb mountains. Toyota Hilux is more popular now because they are more efficient. Today, the main competitors of Hilux pick up trucks are Mitsubishi triton and Ford ranger.  

The 4WD pickup trucks are not only used by tourists but also the local people to bring their agricultural produce to the city. The land transportation in Arfak mountains greatly depends on pick-up cars like these to support the transfer of goods and people to and from the Manokwari city.

I have to say that I am impressed with the performance of the Toyota Hilux because it is very reliable in rugged terrains or in bad weather conditions such as the muddy unpaved roads, and the flooded rivers that I often experience when traveling to the interior region of New Guinea island. Toyota continually improves its cars through is kaizen and hansei manufacturing philosophy. So, when working class citizens are saving money to buy a highly fuel efficient hybrid car, the Toyota Prius, people in Arfak mountains are having their own dreams of buying Toyota Hilux pick up trucks.by Charles Roring

Traveling by ship-what does it mean?

Ship is a vehicle that carries goods and people across the seas, oceans, rivers or canals. Ship and boat have been used by human since ancient time. Although most of inter-continental trips have been replaced by jet planes, there as still significant number of people who like to travel by ships especially the cruise ones. Cruise ships are similar to passenger ships in many aspects but offer more pleasure activities and round-trip itinerary which most passenger ships do not provide. So, what does it mean to travel by ship?

KM Doloronda

Longer trip duration
Because ship is slower than airplane, traveling by ship to certain destination will take longer time than by airplane. For example, for reaching Numfor island in the Geelvink bay of New Guinea, a ferry boat needs around 5 hours whereas a single propelled airplane needs only 20 minutes.
More Activities
To cater for the needs of passengers during a sea voyage from one harbor to another, operators of cruise ships have to build facilities and arrange activities that passengers can enjoy on board. Passengers will not feel bored because they can watch dolphins, sea scapes in the middle of the sea and watch latest movies or even swim and drink with other passengers.
More Goods and Passengers
The capacity of a big passenger ship or cruise ship can reach up to 5000 people or even more whereas the carrying capacity of the largest airplane is around 500 people. In other words, if we travel by ship, we will see more people on board and be able to carry more luggages. The largest cruise ships in the world such as the Oasis of the Seas and the Allure of the Seas can be considered as floating towns because inside the cruise ships we can find a lot of facilities that most small towns need to serve their inhabitants such as hospitals, recreational areas (cinemas, gaming, swimming pools, theatres, etc.), sport and fitness centers, shopping centers, restaurants and even libraries.
More Wastes and Threats to Marine Environment
Ships that carry large number of passengers will definitely produce more wastes both organic and inorganic. They have to be properly handled to prevent them from harming the environment especially the coral reefs that are homes to large number of marine animals. In addition to installing wastes processing machines on board cruise and passenger ships, the passengers have to be informed to not not throwing wastes into the sea. They must dispose their wastes in garbage bins that have been provided on every deck of the ships.
Safety of Life At Sea
I already said that a ship can carry thousands of people across deep sea. The weather at sea is always changing. Today's ship has been equipped with radars, GPS devices and telecommunication equipment that will help him traveling at sea to its desired destination. Big waves often cause a cruise ship to roll on tranverse direction. This makes a lot of people suffer from sea sick. To handle people with this temporary sickness, ship operator hire doctors or health works who will work in the clinic helping passengers dealing with their health problems.
Faster Ship with Better Stability
Naval architects now have been able to design ships and boats that can travel faster across the seas with improved stability. Innovations on the hull forms have led shipbuilding industry to twin hull boats called catamaran or three hulls (trimaran) or even pentamaran. Twin hull boat with small waterplane areas called swath is now seen as a great marine vehicle that can carry large number of passengers with relatively better stability than conventional monohul boat with the same passenger carrying capacity. by Charles Roring
Related articles:
Traveling by passenger ship
Traveling with passenger ships to remote islands in Indonesia

Traveling with aci.detik.com travelers around Manokwari

A few days ago I accompanied 4 Indonesian travelers to Arfak mountains and Angresi beach. They were Suasti, Reggi, Audrey, and Diana. My trips with them were totally different from my previous trips with foreign tourists. I did not have to speak English. We spoke in Indonesian language. These Indonesian "tourists" were sent by detik.com, a popular news website in Indonesia. Detik.com requires that each of the traveler write at least 3 articles and upload 10 photos a day.

Snorkeling in Arfai
During their tours around Manokwari, they were involved in various activities which I and Suasti (the coordinator of Detik.com from Jakarta) had arranged for them in a 3-day itinerary. In the first day, they enjoyed snorkeling in Arfai beach. We went there by Ojek (a motor cycle taxi) at 2 p.m. after eating lunch at Permata-a small eating house in town. The coral reef of Arfai is facing extinction due to the plan from the local government of West Papua province to construct a drainage ditch from the provincial government office buildings in Arfai hill.
Night Ride with Manokwari Cyclists
After that they were invited by cyclists in Manokwari for night riding along the streets of the city. Even though they were very exhausted after the snorkeling activity, they showed their enthusiasm in joining the night riding. Again I had to arrange extra bicycles for these "Indonesian tourists" because I only had two at home. Fortunately, my friend in Bank Mandiri, lended two of his bicycles. I got another mountain bike from Peddy Tangguni, my other friend who lived behind the governor's office. We were a little bit late when we were heading for the meeting point in the hospital of the Indonesian naval base of Manokwari. The whole convoy of the mountain bikers of Manokwari had left the hospital. We could meet them at the harbor of Manokwari. The three girls from Jakarta joined the convoy whereas I and Reggi (the young man who was also one of the traveling partipants from aci.detik.com) had to go to Bank Mandiri first to get two more bikes for us. Because the Bank Mandiri was close to the Naval Base of Manokwari, I and Reggi could only enjoy the NR tour for around 300 meters. After taking some pictures with them, we said good bye to all of the NR participants.

Hiking in Arfak mountains
The next morning, we left the hotel where they had stayed for Arfak mountains. Our first stop point was Wosi market. We bought some vegetables, and fish there. Toyota Hilux G-series carried us to the mountains. The rear seat of the pick up truck was small for them. When we were passing by Lake Kabori, I asked Om Ching, our driver, to stop for while. They took as many pictures as they liked. Then, we continued our trip to Arfak mountains. Usually, it took only two hours to reach our destination, which was the Kwau village. However, because we stop several times for buying rice, and taking pictures and toilets, the time that we needed was 3 hours. Hans Mandacan met us on the street junction of Mokwam. Two porters had been waiting for us ready to carry our food and bags to the tourist house located in the middle of the jungle. When all of the bags had been unloaded from the pick-up truck, we began our hiking trip through the tropical rainforest of the Arfak mountains. We arrived at the tourist house at around 3. I asked Hans to prepare hot water. We ate noodle and drank some tea. That afternoon, we walked again to a birdwatching hut located some ten minutes walk behind the tourist house. I told them to stay in the hut (usually called blind) for waiting the birds to come down to their courting ground before leaving them for two hours. I and Hans waited for them around two hundred meters from the blind. After fifteen minutes waiting, suddenly we heard them screaming. I and Hans immediately ran to the blind to find out whether there was a snake or wild animal attacking them. Several meters from the hut, I could hear them laughing. They were not waiting for the birds of paradise but sharing their personal stories in the dark room of the hut. Drizzle started to fall. I told them that we could not wait for the birds or we would be soaked in heavy rain. We rushed to the guesthouse again. We only spent one night in Arfak mountains. After visiting and taking pictures of the bower of the bowerbird in Soyti slope, we returned to the city by the same pick up truck.

Snorkeling in Angresi
I was not sure whether we still had enough time for snorkeling in Angresi beach. I called Om Kosal to prepare for the boat. We left Arfai beach a little bit more than 3 p.m. Moderate wind blow pushed us from the north. Our destination was Angresi. The sky above the area was dark with thick clouds. The rain was falling in the area when we were heading to our snorkeling destination. We reached our destination at around 3.40 p.m. Miraclously, the dark cloud moved to the south east region, the rain stopped, the wind changed blowing from the north to from the west, the waves slowly died down.

Reggi, one of the ACI participants was snorkeling in Manokwari

Diana, Audrey, Suasti and Reggi really enjoyed their snorkeling activity at the foot of the Arfak mountains that afternoon. When we were heading back to Arfai, it was nearly dark. The coral reef in Angresi shore is still in pristine condition. It has now been listed in the itinerary that I offer to tourists who want to enjoy snorkeling in Manokwari. I hope that this eco-tourism program will encourage local people to protect their marine environment from further destruction. We left Arfai for the town at 19.00. After eating bakso in Sanggeng area, we returned to the hotel again. I said goodbye to them. That's the final activity that I provided for them during their tour in Manokwari. The next morning, they would fly to Sorong for a 1-week trip around Raja Ampat Islands.
If you are interested in visiting Manokwari, and need a tour guide to arrange trips and accompany you both, you can contact me via my e-mail: peace4wp@gmail.com
Related article: Snorkeling trip in Manokwari bay of Indonesia