TAMA MOANA – CHILD OF THE SEA
In October 2003 I commissioned Andy Smith of Junction Boatworks Inc in the Philippines to build my ethnic Polynesian double canoe boat.
According to James Wharram, Andy Smith has since been granted “sole – worldwide – building rights” by Wharram Designers for their “Tama Moana” – “Child of the Sea” – an ethnic Polynesian crab claw rig catamaran. My boat was launched in October 2004; it was the first boat of this new design built by Andy Smith’s boatyard in Philippines.
What wondered me is the fact where does the claim come from that James Wharram that granted Andy Smith the “sole–worldwide–building rights” for this beautiful ancient Polynesian canoe boat.
Polynesian Sea People have over hundreds of decades migrated to all parts in the Polynesian triangle in the Pacific Ocean with these efficient canoe boats – both – outrigger and double canoe versions.
The ethnic pacific outrigger canoe or double canoe boat is the heritage and intellectual creation of the Polynesian Sea People. The words “Tama Moana” in Polynesian language mean “Child of the Sea” and the boat designed by the James Wharram Design is simply a modern copy of the famous Tikopian outrigger canoe exhibited in Auckland Maritime Museum in NZ.
This beautiful example of a Pacific outrigger canoe shows that these ancient Sea People had over hundreds of years developed a profound maritime knowledge and developed highly efficient maritime crafts. They have so much to teach us. They are a living “kinetic sculpture” I admire very much.
