Camakau Training

You can watch the training video to prepare the 68 teams participating in the Eco Challenge event held in Fiji.

Flashback

Flashback 15 years or so.  Harmen Hielkema testing my 16' Tarawa with a Gibbons shunting rig.

Va'a Motu by Denis Gallant

Side rudder supports and aft crossbeam wae.

Tools

Glass It

Gabriel Kelly's Ulua with its fiberglass sheathing applied.

Drua

You can get a ride on this 50' Fijian drua which is now based at Vuda Marina just a short distance from the airport at Nadi, Fiji

Tipairua

Visiting a Polynesian double canoe I built in 2003. This is the 250th anniversary of Captain Cook arriving at Mercury Bay, New Zealand where he observed the transit of Mercury as it passed in front of the sun. Also in attendance were three much bigger eighty foot double canoes, A replica of Cook's Endeavour and two other square riggers.

Borabora 1960

Spring

The first day of spring in NZ with the sun heading south over the equator.  My 20 year old Tarawa is lashed up and ready to go again.

Ulua 27 for Sale

27' stretched Ulua for sale in the SF Bay area.  This three year old canoe comes fully decked with spray skirts for rough weather.  Contact Chris Goeltner: goeltner at gmail.com

Micronesian Sailing Society

Building a traditional sailing canoe in Palau.

Fiji Eco Challenge

Rigging 69 shunting Tamanu canoes for the start of the Eco Challenge.

Mike Baker

Mike Baker's 26.5' stretched Ulua ready for action.  Strip planked with Alaskan yellow cedar.

Fiji

 

 Just returned home from a few weeks in Fiji. Got some sailing in with my 10 year old Tamanu and caught some nice fish. We Also visited the factory building 100 Tamanus of which 70 will be used in the Eco Challenge in early September. Watch for it on Amazon Prime with Bear Grylls next year. After that event they will be used to train sailors and eventually be distributed around Fiji's hundreds of islands.

Mix and Match Ulua

Gary Gunder has completed a 24' (8.1M) stretched Ulua double outrigger matched with Va'a Motu amas and rudder, and a Wa'apa rig.

Steering Paddle Versus Paddling Paddle

If you intend to steer your outrigger sailing canoe with a paddle, note that you will have the best success with a much larger paddle.