Fiji Under A Junk Rig

 

We've just returned from two weeks in Rakiraki, Fiji.  As extra baggage, I took along a junk rig I had used on my Wa'apa some years ago.  The wooden battens were too long so I cut them in half at home and prepared splicing plates, made from Micarta, so that I could glue them back together when I arrived.  I also took a carbon fiber yard made from the top half of a windsurf mast.  It was also cut and sleeved so it could be joined later.

This junk rig is the modern cambered type; a bitch to build but a joy to use.  Rakiraki is one of the windiest locations in the Fiji Islands and kite surfing is one of the more popular tourist sports there.  Just as expected, the wind was 20-30 knots almost every day.  The photos were taken in a very protected area.  Reefing was as simple as lowering the halyard and snugging up the yard hauling parrel.  (There are lots of parrels to play with on a junk rig)  The lower three panels can be dropped into the lazy jacks and you can end up with what looks like a very small crab claw sail.

 

 The fishing was poor with only one boated but several lost in the coral heads where they like to dive.  This canoe is the second Tamanu I built in Fiji and is a simplified version without the self bailing cockpits.  It's now been disassembled and stored under a friend's pole house, waiting for our next visit.