Images related to the history and construction of Hokule’a and its subsequent voyages.
Hokule’a has undergone many small modifications over the years, most visibly to its splash guard, beam width, mast steps, and the size and shape of its two sails.
Of all the items I have collected over the years related to Hokule'a and its voyages, none is as historically significant as the "Proposal for an Experimental Voyage Between Hawaii and Tahiti," written in 1974. I will share a few pages from this document.
The proposal outlines the dream of several individuals:
- Herb Kawainui Kane
- Ben Finney
- Tommy Holmes
- August Yee
- Larry Burkhalter
- Kala Kukea
Their vision was to build a replica of an ancient Polynesian voyaging canoe and conduct a round-trip voyage between Hawaii and Tahiti during the U.S. Bicentennial Year in 1976.
These men could not have envisioned that their canoe would one day circumnavigate the globe and become an object of admiration for people around the world. They could not have foreseen that Hokule'a would be at the root of a Hawaiian, Polynesian, and even Micronesian cultural renaissance. No, they could not have imagined that in 2025 there would be a 50-year celebration of Hokule'a's journey.
Hokule'a has become a symbol of Polynesian culture and a promoter of how to care for our oceans and our planet.
Page 1 of the Proposal in which the voyage to Tahiti and back to Hawaii is charted.
Introduction - Historical and Cultural Background , Pag2 of 30
1974, The Year of the Canoe. Page 3 of 30
1975, The Year of the men: testing and training. Page 4 of 30
1976, The Year of the Voyage. Page 5 of 30
Attachments . Page 6 of 30
Budget and Funds Source, page 7 of 30
Monetary contributions, page 8 of 30
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Polynesian_Triangle
Polynesia is a subregion of Oceania, made up of more than 1,000 islands scattered over the central and southern Pacific Ocean. The indigenous people who inhabit the islands of Polynesia are called Polynesians. They have many things in common, including linguistic relations, cultural practices, and traditional beliefs. In centuries past, they had a strong shared tradition of sailing and using stars to navigate.
Throughout Polynesia and Oceania in general, canoes have been, and in some cases still are, a primary means of transportation between islands. They also serve as an essential method for fishing along the shores. Some canoes were specifically designed to accommodate a large number of warriors for the purpose of waging war and conquering other islands. The size and construction of canoes were greatly influenced by the materials available on each particular island. For example, Hawaii was able to build large voyaging or war canoes using the renowned Koa tree. Meanwhile, the Māori in New Zealand constructed war canoes, known as "Waka Taua," that could be up to 130 feet long, utilizing the massive Kauri or Totara trees. While most canoes, regardless of size, were dugouts, some, particularly in Samoa , were built using plank construction.
Over the last 30 years, I have gathered thousands of pictures illustrating Polynesian canoes, ranging from small fishing canoes to war and voyaging canoes, as well as models of these canoes. It will be a labor of love to list all of them, but I plan to share the most interesting ones over time.
A beautiful model canoe
This is an early 20th-century photograph. Notice that the hulls of the canoes are darker than the tops. This difference in color may be due to the hulls being carved from Koa wood, while the gunnels and tops are made from a lighter-colored wood, such as Ahakea.
A picture daring back towards 1915 showing a Hawaiian outrigger canoe fitted with a sprit sail. The Royal Hawaiian Hotel in the distance
Another picture issued as a post card towards 1915 showing a canoe fitted with a sprit sail.
The location seems to be near the Hawaiian Outrigger canoe club.
A photo dating back to the beginning of the 20th century showing a native paddling along the shore.
Nice little model
Small Hawaiian canoe model
MARQUESAN CANOE hull ornamented with incised patterns as shown in this model. The fore end piece is often carved with a human face whereby the end piece is bearing a recumbent tiki figure.
This particular model of a Manihiki canoe from the Cook Islands is at the Horniman Museum, London. I know of 3 more more models, one at the Scottish Royal Museum, one at the Peabody Museum, Salem and the third at Te Papa Colletions,, NZ.
This model of an outrigger canoe, fitted with a European sprit sail, resembles closely that of Hawaiian fishing canoe, but at closer inspection it looks to be from Bonin Islands.
An early 20th century colored postcard showing a Hawaiian using a fishing pole.
I have always regarded this canoe, with its elegant lines, as one of the most beautiful Polynesian fishing canoes. It is not a dugout; it is entirely built from planks. This picture was taken in 1914.
Over the last six years, I have created two large-scale models of this vessel.
This is a model of a Samoan canoe of the type “Soatau” I made many years ago. Notice the curved figurhead on which cowry shells were tied.
This is a small double-hull canoe from the island of Atiu. The small canoes of the Cook Islands share many similarities with Hawaiian fishing canoes, particularly in their shapes, which feature a raised stern and a lower bow piece, known as the manu, at the front. Most notably, the Cook Islanders used wood from the breadfruit tree to construct their canoes.
A Samoan double hull voyaging canoe of the type “Alia”. It is the Samoan version of the Fiji Ndrua.
Several years ago, I created a wonderful scale model of the Samoan bonito canoe, entirely plank-built and crafted from Koa wood. This model is now displayed in the lobby of the Four Seasons Hotel Resort at Manale Bay, Lana'i, Hawaii.
This is a “waka tete”, a Maori fishing canoe . The figurehead at the bow of the canoe is a rudely carved representation of a human face sticking out the tongue. The representation of a human body is sitting at the stern of the canoe.
This is a model canoe replicating a Tuvalu canoe. of the type “Paopao”. Tuvalu, formerly Ellice Islands.`
A Samoan canoe model in the Vatican Museums. The canoe has the shape of an “amatasi” type, whereby an amatasi is equipped with only 7 beams and not 8.
A picture dated 1880 showing a Maori war canoe of the type “Waka Pitau”.
Canoe model.
Showing the ornamental carved stern of the canoe or “Tau-rapa”
Showing the ornamental bow of the canoe or “ Tau-ihu”
Canoe in Rarotonga, Cook Islands. It has a front top very similar to those in Hawaii. Note the carvings along the hull.
Small fishing canoe model of the type “Paopao”
Top view of the “Manihiki” canoe model at the Horniman Museum, London
Side view of the “Manihiki” canoe model
Tipairua voyaging canoe
Front view of the Manihiki canoe model at the Horniman Museum, London.
1880's Hawaiians in outrigger canoes Waipi'o Valley, Maui
1880's Hawaiians in Outrigger Boats Waipi'o Valley Maui
1880's Hawaiians in Outrigger Boats Waipi'o Valley Maui.
New-Zealand
Beautiful hand colored etching showing a Maori war canoe
This is an early post card showing a canoe near the Outrigger Club.
Hawaiian double hull sailing canoe
Hawaiian double-hull canoe with crab claw sail
Hawaiian fishing canoe with striped sail built by F.P. in 2008 for the Kahala Hotel & Resort.
Small , old canoe model. Outriggers and ama are on the wrong side of the model.
Beautiful model canoe
Mid 1920 photo of a fairly long fishing canoe
Hawaiian model canoe
A beautiful old postcard showing canoes along the Waiakea river, Hilo, Hawaii.
This model was created many years ago for a customer who wanted to use it for decoration on his cruising boat.
In 1995, Hawaiʻiloa sailed her maiden voyage to Tahiti, Raʻiatea, and Nuku Hiva in the Marquesas Islandsin company with Hōkūleʻa and a third canoe from Hawaiʻi called Makaliʻi together with two canoes from Rarotonga: Te ʻAu Tonga and Takitumu, and the canoe Te ʻAurere, from New Zealand.
An early postcard showing paddlers along the Honolulu Haebor.
Scale model of Hokule’a with striped sails. Built in 2015 by FP
This is an 18 inch long scale model of Hokule’a with striped sails. Built by in 2001.
Those 2 canoes were auctioned off in Waikiki some years ago .
Model canoe replicating a type seen on the island of Tutuila.
Marquesan fishing canoe model with sail by Francis Pimmel. The models is graced with a tiki standing at the stern of the model. Francis was commissioned to build some identical models for The Four Seasons Hotel Resort Suites, Lana’i, Hawaii.
TePapa_Vaka-model-outrigger
Pirogue de guerre Wangari, New-Zealand
Wangari war canoe model
Tuvalu canoe
18 inch Opelu canoe by Francis Pimmel
18 inch Opelu canoe with fishing spears by Francis Pimmel
Formerly “Ellice” Island. Fishing canoe vaka alo from Nui island
Hard to localize but looks to be from Vaitupu which is an atoll in Tuvalu
A waka pitau from New Zealand. Te-papa Museum.
Beautiful early 20c picture of a Samoan Va’aalo.
A model built by Francis Pimmel some years ago. Private collection
Showing the typical stern end section of the Funafuti canoes. Tuvalu canoes were traditionally plank built sewn together with coconut fiber rope
Fishing canoe vaka alo from the central island NUI
A Niutao island canoe on exhibit at the Ethnologisches Museum Berlin-Dahlem.
Fishing canoe vaka alo from the northern islands like Nanumanga and Niutao
A northern canoe.
Line drawings and tGerman terminology of the various canoe parts
Front to back: Samoan Va’aalo or bonito fishing canoe, a Tuvalu vaka alo or large Tuvalu fishing canoe from Niutao island, A te puke or ocean going canoe with crab-claw sail from Taumako/Nifiloli, Santa-Cruz islands, and a Micronesian canoe from Jaluit, Marshall Islands on the left.
"Taumako Nifiloli" likely refers to the voyage of the "Te Puke" (also known as "Vaka Taumako") canoe, which sailed from Taumako (Duff Islands) to Nifiloli in the Outer Reef Islands, and then back to Taumako
Showing a 12 inch long Hawaiian Fishing canoe model by F.P.
Visit the “SHOP”for more information.
A canoe in his “auha” or canoe shelter.
Samoan VA’AALO or bonito fishing canoe from the Te-Papa Tongarewa collections, Museum of New Zealand. The Va’aalo were entirely plank built.
Visit THE GALLERY to peruse a scale model I built a few years ago for a collector.
A very large “Kalia” type canoe which is the Tongan adaptation of the drua or double-hulled Fijian voyaging canoe.
A rare magic lantern slide from the end of the 19 c showing Hawaiian paddlers pushing racing canoes onto shore.
FP COLLECTION.
TE-PAPA COLLECTIONS. A Paopao type Samoan fishing canoe model
The Waka hourua “Te Aurere Iti is model voyaging canoe replicating the Aurere Iti which sailed to Rarotonga in 1992 and to Tahiti and Hawaii in 1995. The canoe was moored at Pier 41.
A “Va’aalo” canoe in the lobby of the Kitano Hotel, Apia
TE-PAPA COLLECTIONS. A model-vaka-tou’ua ,sailing canoe from Marquesas
Te-Papa Collections. Samoan Va’aalo fishing canoe
A pahi sailing canoe model in the TE-PAPA collections. Apparently there is also a model at the Bishop Museum, Honolulu, as well as in the Louvre, Paris.
Those double-hulled voyaging canoes were long by 40 feet with a beam of 11 feet. The canoe could take up to 16 people on board.
TE-PAPA COLLECTIONS. _ModelDouble-Hulled Canoe Vaka, Society island.
Te-Papa Collections. Cook islands canoe
Native Hawaiian pushing his canoe onto the shore. Postcard ca 1910
Te-Papa Collections.
Maori war canoe. Postcard
New Zealand war canoe by Dumont D'Urville 1841.
Jules Sébastien César Dumont d'Urville was a French explorer and naval officer who explored the south and western Pacific, Australia, New Zealand and Antarctica. As a botanist and cartographer, he gave his name to several seaweeds, plants and shrubs and to places such as d'Urville Island in New Zealand.
New-Zealand war canoe
A crowd admiring a Maori war canoe. An illustration dated 1866
An illustration by by Dumont D'Urville 1841, showing Maori canoes of the type “Waka Tete” or fishing canoes approaching a sailing ship.
New Zealand War Canoe. Waka Taua, Maori James Cook Print 1774. Original engraving in black and white.
Auckland Harbour Regatta by Frederick Rice Stack
Maori war canoe
Small model of a Marquesan voyaging canoe or “Vaka, Va’a, sometimes equipped with a sail.
Traditional Maori waka Haunui, double-hulled canoe in the Te-Papa Tongarewa Museum, Wellington, New-Zealand. Illustration by Pierre André Leclercq.
Single hull Marquesan canoe model by Francis Pimmel
Small Futuna Island canoe model
New-Zealand Maori war canoe “waka-taua” by James-Cook, copper engraving 1774, but hand colored at a later date.
A Maori war canoe by Parkinson Sydney.
The painting of a “Waka Tou’ua” by Herb Kawainui Kane .
A 38 inch long model of a double-hulled Marquesan Voyaging canoe built by Francis Pimmel.
Pahi Drawing by Admiral Paris
Tongan Kalia
A pahi model.
A First-day cover issued in Papeete showing a Raiatea canoe.
A Pahi model.
Over many years, I have researched canoes from across Oceania and archived images of these vessels, including various models. I have now decided to share these pictures online. This task will take many months or years to complete fully. This page focuses on Melanesian canoes.
Looks very much like a Solomon island canoe, but no, it is a “Tatala” canoe from Taiwan…The history of Polynesia does through Taiwan.
A small canoe of the type “Korakora” from the Molukes archipelago.
A voyaging canoe from the Ninigo Islands, which are a group of 31 islands within the Western Islands of the Bismarck Archipelago, Papua New Guinea.
One look at the mast head and it is definiyely a Fijian sailing canoe of the type Thamakau or Kamakao. The topmast or " ndomondomo" endis in a typical two-horned "truck
This is a model of a Fijian drua (double hulled sailing canoe).The drua was the largest and finest sea-going vessel ever designed and built by natives of Oceania
The model is at the Te Papa Tongareva Museum of New Zealand .
This is a very rare magic lantern slide showing a Fiji drua near a beach in Fiji
This is a beautiful and helpful line drawing of a Fiji Drua illustrated in the book VOYAGERS by Herb Kawainui Kane.
A small but very old Fijian Drua model
The float connected to the outriggers by three pairs of stanchions would indicate that the canoe is from Fiji. The difference between a Fiji Proa (Kamakau) and a Fiji Drua is that the Drua consists of 2 hulls, whereas a Proa is a single-hull canoe with outriggers and float.
A scale model I built several years ago purchased by a collector in Taiwan. This collector visited the Suva Museum, Fiji, where he was captivated by the Drua displayed there. As a result, he commissioned me to create a model of it.
This is the last surviving original drua canoe on display at the Suva Museum. Suva is the capital of the South Pacific island nation of Fiji.
A Fijian canoe of the type “Takia”.
A small incomplete model canoe. The railings would indicate it to be Fijian.
This looks to be a very old, simplified Fiji Camakau.
Fiji camakau racing
Fiji voyaging canoe of the type “vakau” very common on the island of Lau. They were built to be used on the high sea.
This is the Fiji voyaging canoe in the “Fiji House” at the Polynesian Cultural Center, Lai’e, Oahu, Hawaii. The canoe is an old, original vessel of which I made a model of it, right down to scale, some years ago.
Fiji camakau canoe
Fiji Camakau canoe
Fiji fishing canoe of the type camakau
Fiji Drua acquired by the Stiftung Humbold Forum at Berliner Schloss. Note the drums or “lali” at the foot of the canoe.
One of the ways to find out whether a canoe is of a Fiji type, look no further than the masthead, the “ndomondomo,” which looks like a tow-horned spear. But a same shape masthead was also used on some Tonga voyaging canoe.
Small camakau fishing canoe
The life-size drua on display at the Suva Museum in Fiji is a remarkable example of the most significant and finest sea-going vessel ever designed and built by the indigenous peoples of Oceania prior to European contact. Its construction features an entirely plank-built design, distinguishing it from outrigger boats.
A famous painting by Herb Kawainui Kane illustrating a Drua sailing on the high seas.
Line drawing of a Fijian Camakau or Tamatau.
The Sema Makawa canoe at the New Zealand Maritime Museum.
A beautiful and well made Fiji Drua model
This picture was taken at the beginning of the 20th century by a missionary. It was later published as a postcard and a larger lithograph.
Fijian fisherman and turtles. A postcard from the 30s.
A fishing canoe model representing those found in the Humboldt Bay, New-Guinea.
A nice model of a Huon Gulf canoe. This type of canoe is considered one of the most beautiful in Melanesia, known for its excellent nautical qualities. Some of these canoes were up to 60 feet long. On the islands of Tami and Siassi, they were called "wang," but nowadays, we mostly refer to them as "Siassi" canoes.
Canoe model from the Geelvink Bay.
The Taku canoes are very similar to those from the islands of Leuaniua and Nuku-manu.
Showing the hull of a Aua Island canoe . 3rd from the top
Francis Pimmel's love of boats and ships began while watching the colorful freight barges sailing along French canals. As a young boy he marveled at the decorated steering houses of each barge, and wondered how her skipper could possibly load his 2 CV car on top of the hatchways and keep his pet dog, cats or bird aboard. At 14 he bought his first book about canoe building and built his first life-size canoe with the help of his brother. Many more books followed, ranging from boat building to woodworking, another of his passions. Many years later, when moving to Hawaii with his family in 1991, Pimmel read "Hokule'a, The Way to Tahiti" by Ben R. Finney.
Since reading the story of that most audacious and little-reported voyage covering 6000 miles in a reconstructed Polynesian canoe, Pimmel's collection of rare and fine books, special subjects, studies and pamphlets on specialized aspects of Polynesian seafaring, Pacific navigators and canoe building has grown considerably.
Without doubt, a great classic of the maritime ethnography of Oceania "Canoes of Oceania" by Haddon & Hornell for its depth of research. No library would be complete without "Atlas des Violiers et Pirogues du Monde" from Admiral Paris (1843) and the now rare volumes I and II of "Pirogues Oceaniennes" by Jean Neyret, containing the line drawings and descriptions of literally thousands of Oceanic canoes covering the Pacific from Hawaii to Sumatra and from Java to Easter Island and even as far afield as Madagascar. Edward Dodd's writings about Polynesian seafaring as well as those by David Lewis contain a wealth of information for the further understanding of the wonders and secrets of Polynesia and their Pacific island Navigators. Tommy Holmes' book "The Hawaiian Canoe" is outstanding in that it treats the subject of Hawaiian canoes in great depth but with great readability. And last but not least worth noting is "Voyagers", a collection of words and images by Herb Kawainui Kane.
In addition to books relating to canoe building and Pacific seafaring and navigators, Pimmel's shelves are stacked high with books about boat design and architecture, ship modeling, rigging and sailing. His library serves an educational function, to provide understanding of the culture of the people of the Pacific, and, in particular, their maritime culture and their canoe building skills and traditions. Reading these books has helped Pimmel become aware that a multitude of canoes of different size, shape and form were built in every tiny corner of the Pacific islands, and how sometimes the construction of a given type of canoe evolved from one neighboring island to another; or how Pacific migrations influenced the shape of a type of canoe 1000 miles away (for example, the surprising similarities between the Solomon islands war canoes and some types of Filipino vessels with elevated bow and stern). Similarly, years of studying the canoes of Oceania and having assisted in the construction of some of them along the Sulu Sea, have contributed to Pimmel's knowledge of the construction of these canoes; knowledge that he makes use of in his scale models not just from Polynesia, but also other parts of the Pacific rim.
More information
More information
A private collection of rare old prints, post cards, and original photos illustrating canoes from Polynesia, Micronesia and Melanesia.
A selection of photos taken by the artist - some of these canoes, and people associated with them, have become legends and are forever associated with the Hawaiian cultural renaissance.
Due to the large quanitity of photographs, you can find the full set on Flickr, including the many photographs that Pimmel took when five voyaging canoes gathered on the shores of Oahu on May 13th 1995.
A small selection of Francis Pimmel's private collection of vintage and historical canoe models from around the Pacific.
