There is a rich tradition of canoe-building in the Pacific with a wide range of styles and sizes of waka, (vaka in the Cook Islands and Tokelau, va’a in Samoa and French Polynesia, wa’a in Hawai’i, and bangkha in the Philippines).

The key elements of construction are present in the simplest of outrigger canoes like the one from Atiu - hollowed out logs, planking/strakes, two hulls, cross-beams and lashing.

Kanak sailing canoe

Fijian drua

Solomon Islands Lisi

Reading:

Haddon AC and J Hornell, (1936-38), Canoes of Oceania, Special Publication 27-29, Bishop Museum Press, Honolulu

Neyret J, (1974), Pirogues Oceaniennes, Association des Amis de Musees de la Marine, Paris

Kiribati fishing canoe (Tarawa)

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