Canoes of Oceania

I love that word... "Oceania" the ocean continent. My recent sailing trip in the Pacific was truly an incredible adventure in many ways; being on the ocean, learning how to sail, group living in a small space, fishing, experiencing a variety of island cultures, their food, their music and dance, their hospitality; lush mountainous islands and windswept atolls; historical sites of ancient stone ruins or old bunkers and rusting guns from WW II; underwater worlds of coral and colourful fish, sea turtles, manta rays, sharks and dolphins; stars, sunrises and sunsets, warm tropical wind, shades of blue.

One aspect of the trip that I was excited about beforehand and was not disappointed was to see and experience the wide variety of canoes still used on most Pacific islands. Some were dugout from a single tree, others stitch and glue planks of wood and others still made from metal. Although each island or atoll had different styles and designs, they all had an outrigger off to the side of the main hull. Here are some examples of these canoes and the wonderful craftsmanship in their construction.

Fiji was the only nation where in fact there were not that many canoes. Most fishermen these days have aluminium boats with outboard motors. That's a bit of a shame as the Fijian outrigger canoes of the past, particularly the famous double hulled 'drua' was renown to be one of the most seaworthy of the Pacific. This was a quarter size replica of one found in the Museum of Suva. We met a group of kiwis that were interested in trying to revive the use of small sailing canoes for local use in the lagoons. An excellent initiative as the price of fuel keeps rising.

In Tuvalu, there were several types of outrigger canoes that ranged from a boxy plank type construction found on the island of Vaitupu to the elegant dugout from a hardwood tree called 'feitao' on the northern atoll of Nanumea. This last kind of canoe was very prevalent as there were almost no motorboats around. We came across a group of men that were constructing two of them at once, in the shadow of coconut trees.

In Kiribati, on the outer island of Abaiang, I was lucky to have met a local fisherman named Tekieri who brought me out in his outrigger to the reef to go snorkeling for octopus. With a sail made of a plastic tarp, we had speed of about 8 knots and it felt great sailing across the lagoon.

Being a wooden boat of planks, bailing is a necessity not just from water coming in through the seams but by the odd wave splashing over the front.

The Marshall Islands are famous for their sailing outrigger canoes. They are fast. I will simply copy what is written from a tourist pamphlet as they explain it better than I can. "The remarkable skill of the Marshallese seafarers to evolve their swift outrigger combined three inventions of the utmost utility in sailing. First the masters designed a watercraft that always keeps its main hull to leeward and its small outrigger counter-balance up on the windward side. Always keeping the main hull to leeward is possible as the canoe tacks because sailors pivot their mast and move their sail from one end to the other. Thus the canoe is able to sail with either end forward, thereby keeping the outrigger on the weather side.

With these reversible ends in mind, the Marshallese were able to further evolve their sailing craft. Their second notable design invention is an asymmetrical main hull which helps lift their craft to windward, much as a bird's wing lifts its weight into the sky. This asymmetrical main hull's two sides differ: the lee side (or side away from the wind) is flattened, while the hull's side which stays to windward is more shapely for lift like the top of a bird's wing. The flattened lee side of the main hull helps pull the vessel up to windward reducing the need for a deep keel, centerboard or leeboards.

The third notable design characteristic of the Marshallese canoe is the use of a lee platform. This extension lashed out to leeward of the main hull extends over nothing but the ocean. This seemingly precarious lee platform enables the voyagers to carry a greater quantity of cargo. Most voyaging canoes had small thatch house built for women and children. There is a sophisticated balance to these wide outriggers designed for ultimate windward speed and cargo carrying capacity".

On Kosrae, one of the Federated States of Micronesia, they do not have sails on any of their canoes as the reef around their island is close to shore and there are no islands nearby. We arrived there a few weeks before an annual island competition of outrigger paddling races. Therefore, everyday just off of our anchored sail boat, we saw teams practicing a few hours a day. Their canoes for racing are similar to the OC-6 canoes used in races in Hawaii and Polynesia except that they are carved out of a single long straight log. Unlike the atolls, Kosrae is a lush, jungle covered volcanic island with a large variety of trees.

Of course there are smaller canoes as well for fishermen going out to the reef and either throwing their lines or nets. The design is essentially the same as the long ones. I came across this man who was making a few paddles. Although he carved the largest part of the plank of hardwood with a chain saw, the rest he chiseled away using a machete. I was surprised at how precise he was with each whack of the blade. (I suppose a lifetime of opening up coconuts helps).

Sailing westward to Pohnpei, we stopped at the island of Pingelap. Here again, a different variety of canoes. An old-timer paddled out to greet us and informed us that we were lucky to be there at this time of the year because they would be night fishing for flying fish. Once the half moon set and it was dark, a dozen canoes set off from the beach. Each canoe had four people. There was a small platform in the middle where one man would stand up holding a massive lit torch made of dried coconut palms. Two more men would be standing at each end with nets attached to a long pole to catch the flying fish that were attracted to the fire light. The fourth would paddle slowly. The old-timer had lent me his single canoe so I was able to paddle along side this group of fishermen in the dark, fishing the same way they had for hundreds of years. With the firelight glowing on the water and sparks flying in the breeze amongst the half circle of canoes it was almost surreal.