Voyaging Waka ... Migrations , Past and Present . carving , history , sailing etc

Tena koutou Whanau ,

JohnnyP and I have been having a bit of a chat about Waka construction , and we decided to open up this thread on the topic.

At this stage , I reckon that any and all stuff relating to taking a log , and chopping away anything that does not look like a canoe belongs here .
That includes the origin of the waka style , where the folks came from , where they went to .

And of course , the Tiki that they carry on them :lol:

kia ora tatou ,

Jock

In the heart of my soul . I would that I had been born in Celtic lands
But I was born here . a Celt in Maori lands . And my heart is content

[ Edited by: Toataiaha 2008-06-03 01:33 ]

My first , and to date most intimate involvement , was in 1980 , when I stopped into see a friend in Pahiatua NZ . Greg Whakataka Brightwell .
He was building the waka haurua 'HawaikiNui' , a double hulled pahi type vessel .

Thats me in the foreground , I had been adzing the raumutu (gunwale) on the stools to the left , but the photographer wanted a tight shot :)

In the heart of my soul . I would that I had been born in Celtic lands
But I was born here . a Celt in Maori lands . And my heart is content

[ Edited by: Toataiaha 2008-06-02 21:47 ]

Good idea guys. Ill add my 2c early as Im just a tourist on this boat. Just something visual to help kick off the new thread, no info sorry. These are in my thread also but I think its good to consolidate the material:

These were snapped in the Pacifica Exhibit in the Melbourne Museum a few months ago. I may have got more pics of various hoe'/paddles and some of the surface detail. Will check..

pDrake, how're those sails? :o

On 2008-06-02 22:28, Tamapoutini wrote:
Good idea guys. Ill add my 2c early as Im just a tourist on this boat. Just something visual to help kick off the new thread, no info sorry. These are in my thread also but I think its good to consolidate the material:

Here is a picture of Tama-bare-arse about to climb aboard ....:P

.... no tourists in this trip Stone-man , we need a punga . Grab that big rock there get and started :D

In the heart of my soul . I would that I had been born in Celtic lands
But I was born here . a Celt in Maori lands . And my heart is content

[ Edited by: Toataiaha 2008-06-03 00:56 ]

Here is a picture of TamaPoutini bare-arse about to climb aboard ....:P

Ahh, I remember it well - carefree days.. :D

For a modern take on traditional sailing canoes from all over the SP check out James Wharrams designs. http://wharram.com/indexofdesign.html
The ethnic designs are cool and he even uses Crab Claw rigging on some of his big designs.

Sturdy craft by the look of them . Have you sailed in any of his ?

Here is a different view of the waka haurua 'HawaikiNui' that Toataiaha shows himself carving above. It is sitting at the Tahiti Museum

On 2008-06-03 06:51, cheekytiki wrote:
For a modern take on traditional sailing canoes from all over the SP check out James Wharrams designs. http://wharram.com/indexofdesign.html
The ethnic designs are cool and he even uses Crab Claw rigging on some of his big designs.

I saw one of the ethinic designs in a sailing magazine a couple of years ago and I ordered the design book. There are a lot really neat modern catamarans that you can build yourself out of wood, epoxy, and a lot of time. This website has a lot of good information and photos.

I was looking at one of his designs last night , and I forgot to bookmark it .
It looked to be one of the largest he has ,20M or so , and the closest to the original voyaging waka.
Ah well , it will turn up again :)

And it did . The name threw me . "Spirit of Gaia" .

http://wharram.com/gaia.html

In the heart of my soul . I would that I had been born in Celtic lands
But I was born here . a Celt in Maori lands . And my heart is content

[ Edited by: Toataiaha 2008-06-03 17:36 ]

Gaia has some very attractive features

Another point of interest although not wholly on Voyaging Canoes is the book "Eddie would Go" about the world renowned surfer, lifeguard and waterman Eddie Aikau who lost his life whilst trying to save the lives of the crew aboard a voyaging canoe.

I met a guy whilst doing some forestry work in Opunake, NZ, he had an interest in building Waka and was planning to build one and launch it using the old channels made years ago in the Taranaki area. I lost contact so I don't know if he ever did it, but he was a raelly cool guy, built his own house using timber he milled himself and designed his own hot water/heating system.

Also and I've mentioned this before elsewhere, there is a beautiful old carved waka Hull laying covered in vegetation just off the inner island road on Rarotonga near to Avarua. I never got any photos, anybody travelling there should look for it, a real hidden gem.

The more I think about canoe building the more I would love to make something larger and sailable.

On 2008-06-04 05:18, cheekytiki wrote:
Another point of interest although not wholly on Voyaging Canoes is the book "Eddie would Go" about the world renowned surfer, lifeguard and waterman Eddie Aikau who lost his life whilst trying to save the lives of the crew aboard a voyaging canoe.

It seems that Eddie was a Voyager .
He was crew on the Hokule'a at the time that he went missing . His place is here .

The memorial plaque on the Hokule'a in his honour .

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eddie_Aikau

In the heart of my soul . I would that I had been born in Celtic lands
But I was born here . a Celt in Maori lands . And my heart is content

[ Edited by: Toataiaha 2008-06-04 06:16 ]

The waka haurua 'HawaikiNui' also has a brief mention in the book "Vaka Moana, voyages of the ancestors" published by Hawaii Press. The book is an excellent overview of the seafaring in exploration of the Pacific Islands.

Here is a link to an interesting website.

http://www.aloha.net/~vaka/

http://newsroom.byuh.edu/?q=node/1745

Link to a news story on a traditional Hawaiian sailing canoe in use at BYU Hawaii.

Those are two excellent links there guys .

I read somewhere years ago , of a double hull canoe people who lived up along the Aleutian island chain .
Trouble is I can't remember if it was a history book , or a fiction novel :(

At the Matariki celebrations here this week , Hekenukumai Busby , master waka builder and blue water navigator , was one of the guest speakers .
He gave a basic rundown on star navigation . Not enough for anyone to sail off into the blue yonder , but certainly enough to demystify the science .
What came through to me , was that migration out across the Pacific , in any direction , was carried out with ease.
If you ever get the opportunity to hear such a speaker , take it ,
even if you have no intention to sail .

Darn it, why don't we ever have that kind of stuff here? Never mind I think I know the answer to that. Well Cool that you get to go and participate. You'll just have to tell us all about it??
:lol:

On 2008-06-21 15:40, Toataiaha wrote:

..gave a basic rundown on star navigation. Not enough for anyone to sail off into the blue yonder, but certainly enough to demystify the science..

But were you listening well enough to give us the gist? Id love to have that one demystified/explained, however simply..

On 2008-06-21 17:19, Benzart wrote:
Darn it, why don't we ever have that kind of stuff here? Never mind I think I know the answer to that. Well Cool that you get to go and participate. You'll just have to tell us all about it??
:lol:

On 2008-06-21 17:29, Tamapoutini wrote:
But were you listening well enough to give us the gist? Id love to have that one demystified/explained, however simply..

Huh ? .
ya never told me that there was gonna be an exam :-?

On 2008-06-21 17:59, Toataiaha wrote:

Huh ?
ya never told me that there was gonna be an exam :-?

Youre at Tiki-Central now brother - and you let it slip.. :lol:

On 2008-06-21 18:14, Tamapoutini wrote:

On 2008-06-21 17:59, Toataiaha wrote:

Huh ?
ya never told me that there was gonna be an exam :-?

Youre at Tiki-Central now brother - and you let it slip.. :lol:

Bugga , I did to eh :roll:
well I'm off to me mates workshop .
I'll have to do some revision while I'm machining oak planks for table tops .