HERE - Polynesian Catamaran Association

heads!!Still.we survived ita l,and to answerthe question now: 'W as itworth it?','Yes itwas'The 'Tikopian Experience',probably wewilneverbe able to repeat.W e werevisited bythe ChiefNo.2's grandson,towhom we explained our reasons forcoming to Tikopia:the discovery ofthetwo Tikopian Canoes in New Zealand -the Iarge 11 m.canoe 1which had beenin the m ain m useum for60 years andits rem arkable resem blance in crosssection and keelIines to that of theSPIRIT O F GAIA,plusthe sm allcanoe,seen in the NationalMaritim e M useum ,which,in 1972,had beenfound floatingin the sea.Also ourown work for43years indesigning,building,sailing andspreading the idea ofthe Double Canoeetc.W e were accepted and invited tothe oId chief(Daddyl's house in theafternoonO n the beach a group of childrengreeted us and, holding our hands,guided us to the Chief s house.lt,Sikealthe others,was covered with Ieavesrightto the ground You have to crawlin through a smalopening (and mustcraw loutbackwards,as itIs conslderedrude to turn the back on som e-one).ltwasdarkinside,butcoolandwithoutthe fliesswarm lngoutside W edrank coconuts and were offered am eal,fish and a m ixture of bananaand coconut m ilk cooked in bananaleaves in an eadh oven in the cookhouse.Eatenwith yourhands,whichare rinsed in water there was nowashing up to do!Then we showed again our photosdrawings etc to the oId Chiefand hisson,Edward,who is now handling a Ithe vilage affairs and presented themaIwith a SPIRIT OF GAIA Tee-shirt(we musthaveIeftadozenofthem onthe island),which they are wearingnow only on specialoccasions, likegoing to church ortraveling overseas!Nextday,they aIIvisited GAIA presentingus with a beautifulm at Thenfolowed som e trading,As the supplyship had been delayed fora couple ofm onths.they were very shod ofparaffin,sugar,teaand rice,butalso Iikedto exchange other item s.Spare flippersand m asks,batteries,fish hooksand Iine to repairtheirnets wereverywelcom e Hanneke Freya and Jam iejoinedthem foranightdiveforcrayfishand fish,which provided ourmeals thefolowing day.The nextday we looked atthecanoes ,m any of them not being used anym ore But,again,we found the sam eshapes as those in Auckland and onew ith a rem arkable resem blance tosome ofourearlierCatam aransThe Iastday,the Supply Ship arrivedThe Chief had told us that he woulddealwith any officialenquiry regardingourstay on the island,and we had notroubleAfterwards,the others walked to LakeTe Rotoonthe otherside ofthe islandltis a shalow fresh waterIake aroundthe drowned cratercentre where itis80m etres deep.There are also the villagesofthe three otherChiefswho alIwelcom ed us, especially one whosegrandfatherhad owned the Iarge canoeinAuckland and who had given itto them issionaries in 1916 for the NewZealand Museum as he objected totheircanoesbeing used any longerItwastim e tosay goodbyeN A T IV EB U ILD IN GPatrick Ormelynch carne across thearlofc'anoe building on a recenttripto lndia.'*2J'. :7:The tim eless G oan canoe beingcom -E' ' 'pleted by fishermen on The Malabar s .. t!'7 ... ;Coasṭ'.j.Buiftup from a holowedouttreetrunkthesideplanksarebutended1 '$q? ..and Iashedwithtwine.A coatofta r 1'vï lilt'â'yEE#i.i;J$ry, .replacing the use ofexpensive resin : . .k)sheathingorantifouland the boughjE( .)''' ) g *!Lofatree grown into a gracefulcurvef's1!it!t:,. :? tk.o'ICIE.L$,,;0)' ' '.. .:..:. r(.:.:.. 'r.;..prov id ing the outriggerbeam switha'2!(*': 4,. . .8t).rj: ,Eneatlystyleddownwardsthrust. xuy ï7'7).è.:. .o .è: ,ï '' r-auq ' .E , ṙ-10 .. o. .' ,yjx #!Eï:z. ,. s.jy;'- ty. ' )yklyj(2,j( ',(.':.-.j-kjlï. . 7l!(':7 .j.u.tL. ,Page 6';:E' y, .,: ' ,.: .?' $y lr(