A new vaka (voyaging canoe), the “S.V. Lata Causey”, was launched this past Sunday at Honokohau Harbor on Hawaii Island. After initial sea trials this week, the vaka will sail to Kauai where it will undergo additional sea trials and outfitting over the next month. In early May the vaka will set sail to the Solomon Islands, where it will be donated from the Pacific Traditions Society, a 501c3 nonprofit based in Hawaii, to Holau Vaka Taumako Association (HVTA), a charitable organization comprised of the Taumako island community. Our Mission | Vaka Taumako Project
HVTA’s mission is to build, sail, and navigate voyaging canoes using ancient designs, methods, and materials that are still used and practiced on this small island of around 500 people. They are constructing a Halevaka (Canoe House) for building traditional voyaging canoes and as a classroom to pass on traditional navigational skills to Taumako youth. The S.V. Lata Causey will assist in completing the Halevaka with its much-needed inter-island cargo supply capability. Currently there is only a once-a-month cargo delivery to Taumako Island. Besides assisting Tuamako islanders with interisland travel, cargo and fishing, the S.V. Lata Causey will also be the government required escort vessel for the traditional vakas the HVTA plans to build and sail inter-island.
The S.V. Lata Causey is a 38-foot proa, a vessel type designed thousands of years ago by early Polynesians. A proa does not have a traditional bow and stern, rather it is double-ended with both ends resembling a bow, and proas also have two parallel hulls. The sails are shunted from one end to the other end to reverse direction on the proa. Hawaiian Ocean Technologies, Inc., located in Honoka’a on Hawaii Island, built the vessel for the Pacific Traditions Society. You can learn more about the unique design and building of the vessel at oceanpeople.org