Raivavae

This va'a motu hull, on the beach at Raivavae in the Austral group south of Tahiti, is a very fine example of the type.  The photo was taken by Tiffany Latame about four years ago. The bow of the va'a is at the left where you can see some of the stitching holding the hull together.  Raivavae is one of the last islands in this group to still construct sewn hulls.  Another interesting fact is that the ama is mounted on the right side rather than the more traditional left side.  I have never been able to find out why the left side is the most common.