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1846 drawing of the boats from Fiji
Camakau (Fijian pronunciation:[ðamakau], sometimes spelled thamakau) are a traditional watercraft of Fiji. Part of the broader Austronesian tradition, they are similar to catamarans, outrigger canoes, or smaller versions of the drua, but are larger than a takia.[1] These vessels were built primarily for the purposes of travelling between islands and for trade.[2] These canoes are single hulled, with an outrigger and a cama, a float, with both ends of the hull being symmetrical.[3] They were very large, capable of travelling open ocean, and have been recorded as being up to 70 ft in length.
A camakau in a museum
Not until Suva did we meet islanders who recognized Celerity's lineage. "Like Fiji canoe! Very fast! Very good!" We were able to judge the accuracy of this pierhead analysis by chasing an outrigger thamakau across the blustery Viti Levu lagoon. In those minutes we closed a gap of centuries. Progenitor and descendant... the sennit-lashed proa with her crab-claw sail matched the trimaran's space-age profile and epoxy fastenings in speed—and sophistication. In the crossing of our wakes an era came full circle.
— Randy Thomas (1984)[4]
^Ilaitia Turagabeci (19 August 2013). "Secrets of the camakau builders". Archived from the original on 7 January 2015. Retrieved 6 January 2015.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link)
^D'Arcy, P; Nuttal, P (2014). "Waqa Tabu—sacred ships: the Fijian drua". International Journal of Maritime History. 26 (3): 427–450. doi:10.1177/0843871414542736. S2CID 161731734 – via Sage Journals.
^Clunie, Fergus (2015). ""Tonjiaki" to "Kalia": The Micronesian-Rigged Voyaging Canoes of Fiji and Western Polynesian and their Tangaloan-Rigged Forebears". The Journal of the Polynesian Society. 124 (4): 335–418. doi:10.15286/jps.124.4.335-418. JSTOR 44012032 – via JSTOR.
^Randy Thomas (1984). "Bluewater Odyssey". Yachting. Retrieved 6 January 2015.
Camakau (Fijian pronunciation: [ða ma kau], sometimes spelled thamakau) are a traditional watercraft of Fiji. Part of the broader Austronesian tradition...
float (cama) is used in place of the smaller hull, the craft is called a camakau. The Fijian double canoe (wangga ndrua, spelt waqa drua in Fijian) was...
the group and had several different types but of a similar design. The camakau was a small twin-hulled canoe for fishing or small transportation purposes...
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