Paddling Times, upcoming fundraisers

Hey yorlye, last weekend had excellent conditions for paddling.  The wind and current provided an opportunity to get up some great speed going from Emily to Slaughter Bays, and some challenging conditions on the return.

It was great to see more people giving the steering a go!  The mid tide conditions are good learning times as more water over the reef.  The reef is shallowest on the sea side in front of the salthouse and there is more water over the reef on the salthouse side, so you can paddle right over the reef closer to the salthouse most times.

The challenge is up.  The morning crew of John,Kyla,Kath &Tony reported a return journey to slaughter bay of 9 minutes and some seconds(??)  I think we should have a prize for the first crew to be able to complete a full 180 degree turn in Slaughter Bay??  Anyway, all the people currently learning to steer are learning lots from having a go and if you've got a tip, put it on the blog or e-mail it around.

Damien brought 2 paddles he had made to the beach and gave them a test run.  They look fantastic laminated from local timbers. 

Our next fundraiser is the U18disco next Friday night 10th of December.  We're having a nibbles table this time, so if members could bring a plate of savoury or sweet nibbles that would be great.  Also as many members that can help with the running of the disco is much appreciated.

Preschoolers 5.30-7.00, Primary schoolers 7.00-9.00, Secondary school 9.00-11.30.  Cost is $5 entry and we have free face painting and nails, and some great glow products again and also some glow in the dark tattoo's ($1) this time.

Hope to see you there.
Anyone who happens to be at the beach when the canoe is in the water, you are more than welcome to come and have a paddle.  Saturday afternoons from 3pm.  Tania, Lou and Raewyn are meeting later on Saturday (around 5.00pm) and on Sundays from 3pm.  As soon as there are enough people to lift the canoe into the water, we get started.  Anyone is welcome to join us.  We are also looking at fitting in a Wednesday afternoon paddle at 4.00pm starting next Wednesday.

New training times and meeting this Saturday

If you have time and wish to have a say at the next meeting, please come down to the beach at 3pm Saturday 27 November.  We hope to also talk about fundraising events and ideas for the future.

After the meeting, come and have a paddle on Tefauroa.

Paddling every Saturday and Sunday at 3pm.  Let's support our juniors by dedicating an hour to them,  say 3.30-4.30pm with adults.

The Norfolk Island Wa'a Outrigger Club has been going from strength to strength - in the club's short lifetime, we have paid for a beautiful outrigger and the club is swelling its ranks with new members.  Let's keep the spirit of John and Tihoti's vision of wa'a on the lagoon going!

Saturday November 13 paddling the Tefauroa, club meeting

These couple of images were from last Saturdays club meet at Emily Bay.  A short meeting to finalise organisation of the Quiz night fundraiser, then into the paddling.  It was a beautiful day on the water, with an incoming tide making for a bit of bounce through the channel between Emily and Slaughter bays.

The Tefauroa has been out of the water this week making adjustments to the seats, lowering them down and some fibreglass repairs to the hull.  She'll be back in the water soon.

At the previous meeting on the 5th November, we made a decision to increase membership fees to $30 to include the insurance.  Student fees are $15 and a Family $75.

At last Saturday's meeting, we agreed to look into the purchase of a second canoe, preferably fibreglass, so that it is lighter and can be carried easily by the women crews.  More on that at a later date

The Quiz night fundraiser is on Saturday 20th at 7pm at the Parish Centre.  We will be running a bar also.  Anyone wishing to offer help running the night or who would like to be included on a table should turn up on the night.  We will be setting up the hall at 5.30pm.  That's it for now.

Heavenly Blessing for Tefauroa

 (From Norfolk on Line 12/11/10 edition)

HEAVENLY BLESSING FOR TEFAUROA

Sunday the 7^th of November.  The day started off cloudy and grey, showers and wind whipping the island.  Typically for this time of year and the changing seasons, the skies had cleared by the early afternoon, just as it had done the previous weekend.  A heavenly blessing for the launch of Norfolk Island’s new outrigger canoe (in our language called wa’a).

The members of the Wa’a Club had gathered and set up gazebos, a BBQ for the snags, drinks, caps, and raffle tickets for an art prize.  The wa’a was carried from where it had been kept in the grassy coverage of the middle of Emily Bay’s sand dunes to the area opposite the ancient Polynesian marae.  Flowers were spread around the peripheries of the wa’a in tribute.

The ceremony began with Tihoti and John Christian, the founders of the club.  John addressed the 200 strong crowd of locals and tourists in English, explaining the significance of the ceremony, the short history of the club and thanking those who have been so kind with their donations (of special note was the Norfolk Island Government and the Minister for Sports) and the builder, Jason Chubb.  The club is also thankful to Slick and Joel for their generous donations for the BBQ.

Tihoti then began the Fa’ainura’a Ceremony.  This ancient ceremony is conducted for every new canoe of importance in Tahiti to show respect for the ocean, the elements and to ask the gods for protection - for the wa’a and the people paddling her.

With the sounding of the conch shell and his children Oihanu and Mauatua standing sentry, he began his oratory,

   O great Ocean!  Welcome!  O divinities of the ocean – welcome!  O great sun!  Welcome!  O divinities of the sun – welcome!  O wind of all directions!  Welcome!  O divinities of the winds – welcome!  To the sky, the land, welcome!

   Taaroa, founder of the world, of the thousand skies!  Welcome to you!  You are the lord of the sky and the land.  You are the ancestor of all the divinities, You are the great creator.  O Taaroa – welcome!

   -Second sounding of the conch-

   O Tane!  Welcome!  Tane the patron saint of all master canoe builders – divine Tane!  Here is our wa’a, here is TEFAUROA!  Here is our wa’a!  Here is TEFAUROA!  O divine Tane!  Come and cast your spell on Tefauroa! Make Tefauroa auspicious!  Oh Tane – welcome!

  -Tihoti sprinkles water from the bamboo held by Oihanu-

  O Tefauroa!  Here is the ocean water, here is the water of the great ocean.  Here is the water from the greatest marae of all!  Tefauroa, here is the seawater to baptise and bless you, to make you propitious.

  -Mauatua ‘faahei’ the wa’a by placing the flowers on the front and the back-

  O Tefauroa, here is a necklace of flowers from this land!  Here is the beauty that decorates this island!  The beauty of this island!  O Tefauroa!  We crown you today with these flowers.  O Tefauroa, you are our pride and joy today.

   O Tefauroa!  Welcome!

-Then came the Baunti Beauties (thank you Claudia, Kaitlin, Emily, Ashley, Mikiela, Tiffany) who danced so beautifully to the Norfolk Island ballads played by the Bumboras Band led by Don Reynolds.

During the ceremony, Kath King heard the call of a single red-tailed tropic bird, flying over the ceremony, watching from above.  For Tahitians, this is significative of the presence of the gods, that they have heard the impassioned prayers.

Once the ceremony closed, members of the club carried the newly baptised vessel to Emily Bay and she was launched into the calm waters paddled by Tihoti, Tarn, Phil and Matt.  There she stayed, paddled around and around the bay with many young and old having a go!  What a wonderful day it was!

So why does a wa’a need to be blessed with this thousand year old ceremony?  As Tihoti explains, the wa’a is a symbol for all Polynesian people  - a symbol of transport and communication between islands, of nourishment, the link between populations, sport, voyage and migration; and then there is the metaphysical symbolism …

All Tahitians know this allegory - it is used in sport, in schools, and by politicians and by everyone in their day-to-day lives.  If you have seen the Tahitian flag, you will know that it is dominated by a great voyaging wa’a (or va’a in Tahitian). 

In life, there is the past, the present, and the future.  You are alone on your wa’a - the future ahead and the past behind.  There are three seats.  When you sit at the front (in the future) the wa’a is difficult to paddle.  You can hardly move forward.  You change to the second seat, the present.  Although it’s better, it’s still hard to manoeuvre the wa’a.  So you sit at the back, looking forward from the past. From there you are better able to find your direction, the wa’a is easy to paddle and you are able to advance.

So it is in life, when we are in the present, look behind; study your history so that you might find the lessons and guidance to know how to go ahead at this moment and into the future.  Today many people are in the first chair.  Look to the past to understand the present and navigate through the future. 

It is the club’s aim to purchase more canoes and that more Norfolk Island women and men will join, and that the junior ranks will swell.  What a wonderful opportunity for our youth to learn this sport of their ancestors and perhaps one day participate in international competitions against our Pacific cousins - affirmation of our undeniable connection to other Pacific Island communities.

Good luck Tefauroa!  (P. Reynolds)

Tefauroa's Official Launching at Emily Bay

What a fantastic day.  A very powerful blessing performed by Tihoti, Mauataua and Oihanu Barff.  A crowd of around 200, locals and visitors gathered to witness the official launching of Tefauroa.

This image shows Tihoti sounding the conche.

 Pride on the face of Tihoti watching Mauataua placing leis on the Tefauroa as part of the ceremony.  The day went just perfect.  The sky cleared, the wind left, I don't think we could have asked for a better day.

 The Baunti Beauties performed around the Tefauroa with accompaniment by the Bumboras Band.

 The Bumboras Band providing music and song for the island dancing troupe who are travelling to Tahiti next year.

 Thanks to Eve and Doug Creek from "Framed" who donated the signwriting of the Tefauroa to the club.  Eve and Doug have been a great support to us, completing some of the framing of the works we raffled earlier, in August.

 A birds eye view, Matt, Phil, Tania and Tihoti demonstrating their skill guiding the Tefauroa around the raft in Emily Bay.

The beautiful scene in Emily Bay as the Tefauroa and crew set a path towards the raft in Emily Bay.

Tony and the girls doing a great job bringing the Tefauroa full circle around the bay and heading back to shore.

All in all a great day had by all.  Thanks to everyone who helped in setting up and making the day special to the club.  Thankyou to the support from the Tour companies, Baunti Escapes, Norfolk Touring and Pinetree Tours for promoting the event amongst the visitors.

Pre-launch trials of Wa'a Tefauroa

Article from Norfolk on Line 5/11/10

THE SPIRIT OF UNION

“This one word contains the secret of all first-class va’a teams:

Taho’e. Union.

To come together and be as one.

Be it with the Va’a Ono (6 man outrigger canoe) or the Va’a Ho’e (single man canoe)

The paddler cannot expect to be able to brave the elements

with only pride and ego at his defence.

The paddler, the va’a, and the ocean must be as one.

The va’a is the model of how fraternity

 and unity works in a group. 

Each paddler is an essential part of the whole.

At the front (mua) is the fa’ahoro:

 he gives the speed of the stroke to the rest of the team.

The peperu, at the back, gives the direction. 

Those at the centre (tura’i) are the motor and give the va’a speed and power.

The combination of unity and coordination makes the wa’a like a fish in water

 half airborne, half aquatic. 
She skims across the surface of the water, speeding along like a flying fish.”

(Tihoti Barff-Faara)

Last Saturday, 30 October, saw the pre-launch lagoon trials of the first Norfolk Island built Tahitian-style va’a outrigger canoe (or wa’a in our Norf’k language). 

A few men met out at Farmer Lou’s shed where Jason had spent hours manufacturing the sacred vessel – sacred to the men now gingerly hovering over her and figuring how to safely transport her to the opposite end of the island to Emily Bay. 

They envisaged the journey down the slope of Grassy Road, through Burnt Pine town centre, and then the best of the steep winding routes to get safely Daun a Taun (Kingston).   She was eventually securely fastened onto the Evans’ vege delivery truck with a few silent prayers under the breath; and the pilgrimage began to our beloved Emily Bay.

It began as a cold and blustery day with many supporters looking on, but the club members barely noticed … their sole focus was the Wa’a Tefauroa.  Her safe arrival at the beach and attachment of the ama (outrigger) meant the trials could begin! 

She was carefully placed into the water and taken for her debut paddle. Over and over, she went out, skimming the peripheries of Emily Bay, turning into Slaughter Bay and back again, stopping in at shore just long enough re-adjust the ama and change paddlers so everyone could have a try.

As time progressed, we were blessed with ‘4 seasons in one day’, and it ended up as one of those exquisite afternoons where the sun played ecstatically on the waters and those of us on shore looked on in wonder; in wonder at the extraordinary loveliness of the dancing light and waters.  Tihoti felt we were being blessed from above.  My daughter said to me, ‘Look Mama, I can see the heavens’.  And I found myself thinking of those very first Polynesian visitors to Norfolk Island.  They must have come through the Emily Bay passage on their own sea-worthy wa’a at some stage before inhabiting Norfolk Island in the thirteenth to fifteenth centuries AD.  What an historic event this was!

 First adjustments and boys patting themselves on their backs!

 Mixed teams ... a good sign - Matt, Kyla, Taan, Tihoti

 Mixed ages - Tihoti, Suzanne, Reuben, Matt

 Papas and sons - Matt & James, Tihoti & Oihanu and a gleaming Emily Bay

 Heading into the sparkling waters ...

 The blessing has already happened ...

We can only hope for a replay next weekend when the Wa’a Tefauroa is given a traditional blessing and officially launched.  If you are on Norfolk Island on Sunday, come down to Emily Bay at 2pm where there will be Island dancing, canoe rides and a sausage sizzle.  We can hardly wait!

History of the name Tefauroa from HMS Bounty to Point Venus to Emily Bay

Norfolk On Line article published 29/10/10

WA’A TEFAUROA

(pron. wah-ah te-faw-roh-ah)

On the 26th at four o'clock in the morning, having run twenty-five leagues from Maitea, we brought to till daylight, when we saw Point Venus bearing south-west by west, distant about four leagues.  As we drew near a great number of canoes came off to us.

So wrote William Bligh in A Voyage to the South Sea upon the arrival of HMS Bounty at Tahiti on the 26^th of October 1788 (222 years ago almost to the day). It would be an ill-fated voyage for him, and the beginning of a new people - aklan!

As many of you know, many of us would later celebrate the Tahitian Bounty Day at Point Venus and Matavai Bay (in the district of Mahina) on the 27^th of October each year marking the day the Bounty crew first set foot on Tahiti.  The first step toward the future which would be life changing for every soul onboard … and for many Tahitians ashore.

But back to the early history of the Matavai and Point Venus area …

In 1767 Captain Wallis on the HMS Dolphin arrived at Matavai Bay.  Originally another ship, HMS Swallow, accompanied Wallis under the command of Philip Carteret, but the two ships lost sight of each other forcing them to sail separately.  Wallis subsequently ‘discovered’ Tahiti, and Carteret ‘discovered’ and named Pitcairn Island.

Cook was the next to arrive in 1769 under instruction to observe the transit of Venus.  He set up camp on the point to the east of Matavai Bay, constructed a small fort and observatory, and christened the area Point Venus.  He would return a further 2 times – it was known to be his favorite anchorage in the South Pacific. 

A gap of 11 years followed until the Lady Penrhyn, a British transport, arrived after having delivered women convicts to New South Wales.  The scene was now set for the arrival of the Bounty.  The rest, as they say, is history.

This area is the most northern part of Tahiti.  Prior to European contact it was a place where less important chiefs ruled; but with each visit the Matavai Bay area (and its chiefs) grew in importance. From Wallis’ time onward all contact with English ships took place here, and their favoritism of the area changed the local dynamics and upset the balance of Tahitian politics giving far more importance to the local chiefs than they had previously enjoyed.

To Tahitians, Point Venus was known as Te Otu’e no Tefauroa or simply Tefauroa – a place where many legends were centered around the goddess Hina. 

Hina used to swim at Tefauroa. The villagers loved to watch her because she was very beautiful. They would whisper, “Ua ma o Hina”,  Hina is clean. The district became known as Ma-hina.  Afterwards she would walk to the area where the river separates the point from the beach (close to the public showers for those of you who have visited – see photo of Isaac and Oihanu), and gaze into the peaceful waters to look at her reflection.  The bay and river became known as Mata-vai making legendary the moment she saw her face (mata) in the water (vai).

Sylvia Herrman and much of her family still live in the Mahina district. They descend from Edward Young and Mauatua.  Many of us have stayed and visited her over the years.  By her side, as I wrote earlier, we have celebrated the Tahitian Bounty Day at Matavai/Tefauroa and on the first occasion in 2005, a monument was erected to commemorate the Bounty connection to the area.

Recently, back here on Norfolk Island, a marvelous venture begun by John Christian and Tihoti (aka Georges) grew into the Norfolk Island Wa’a Outrigger Club with a steady growth of members.  The club is about to see its first wa’a (Norf’k for the Tahitian va’a) christened on Sunday 7^th of November at 2pm down at Emily Bay – where the members of the club will have their first trial paddle on the much-awaited outrigger canoe. 

The name?  Tefauroa of course!  Our history begins there and bringing this Tahitian sport to Norfolk Island is loaded with symbolism.  The wa’a was built following plans drawn up by Leslie, Sylvia’s son, who is a champion paddler – a priceless gift of great generosity.  Jason Chubb built the wa’a with great care right here on Norfolk and for that we can be so very proud! 

Come down to the beach and help celebrate this wonderful event.  The launch will begin with a traditional Tahitian blessing ceremony.  

There will be refreshments available.  

Sea trials of the Tefauroa, Official Launch Nov 7, upcoming fundraisers

The smiles on the faces tell the story.  The Wa'a Tefauroa arriving for the first time at the beach for the first of its sea trials was greeted by a crowd of about 30 members and onlookers.

 It took only minutes to attach the outrigger and prepare for the first paddlers.  Tihoti bringing the paddlers back to shore several times to make adjustments to the position of the outrigger.

The outrigger is attached to the canoe with rubber straps, inner tubes, and it will takes a few trials for the position of the outrigger to be determined so that it is best for balance and for steering.

Lots of people had a paddle and it was an exciting moment, with a great atmosphere of anticipation.  Remember yorlye, it's early days, it takes plenty of practice to perfect the technique.  Particularly pay attention to Tihoti's technique, his straight back, (not side to side movement).  Too much side to side movement will make the outrigger tip.  Imagine how much we will learn over the next few months.

The canoe will remain at the beach with the outrigger stored under the hull.  The outrigger is made of polystyrene with a fibreglass coating, so it is very fragile.  It is important not to stand on it or put any weight on it and it must be stored under the hull when not in use.

Suzanne supplied some great pics of the Wa'a on the water.  Great conditions in great light made for some surreal images.

The official launching of the Wa'a Tefauroa will be held next Sunday, November 7th at 2pm at Emily Bay.  The previous blog has the outline of the blessing ceremony to be conducted Tihoti (George).  This will be followed by island dancing by the Baunti Beauties and a sausage sizzle fundraiser ($2 sausage sandwich).  Drinks, chips and chocolate will also be on sale, to help boost the clubs finances. Club  

hats will also be on sale, $20 to members and $22.50 non-members.  In addition to the sausage sizzle, members are asked to bring a plate to share with other club members and invited guests to the ceremony. 

We still have our insurance to pay $855 and it would be good to have some money in the bank to finance future fundraisers and ongoing merchandising as well.

It is important to the success of any fundraiser that it is well supported by members and the community, so please invite your friends and family to get together and support our club, in all its fundraising activities.  Remember, if you have a great fundraising idea that the club could run, please turn up to a meeting and we can discuss it.

A quiz night fundraiser is now being planned to run on Saturday November 20th,  at the Parish Centre.  We will be running a bar for the night.  Max 10 people per table, $10 per head, lots of great prizes to be won!  So get a group of friends organised for a great night of fun(d)raising!

Another U18 disco is planned for Friday November 26th, so help us by keeping informed and raising interest in the community.

Thankyou to Jason Chubb(extraordinary boat building) and offsider Lou Evans (support to Jason and shed provision), our very dedicated committee and our funtastic club members for their enthusiasm and positive contribution to getting the Wa'a Tefauroa in the water in less than 3 months.  That is truly unbelievable! Congratulations all yorlye!!  Email pics of yourselves paddling or post them on the blog yourselves.  Enjoy!
 

Launching the Tefauroa, Wa'a dreaming, upcoming fundraisers, next meeting

Rocky, Mareeva and George give us all a glimpse of what is to come once the Tefauroa is launched.  Suzanne took these pics yesterday of their paddling in Emily and slaughter bay.  Conditions were perfect for paddling.

Speaking of launching the Tefauroa, the launch date has been set for Sunday November 7th at 2pm at Emily Bay.  We'll also be fundraising with the sale of refreshments (drinks and eats) and whatever else we can organise between now and then.

So, we hope all yorlye can make it for the launch of the clubs newly built 4man outrigger canoe.  Hopefully 2pm gives the night workers enough time to attend before work.  It will also be a good point of contact to arrange paddling times with other members.

A reminder that we have also ordered some hats which can be embroidered with any of the club designs, (see previous blog).  You can chose from black, blue, red or white hat with any colour embroidered design that you wish. Please e-mail Lou and place your order.

George has planned a beautiful program for the launching of the Wa'a and I've attached it:

LAUNCH OF WA’A TEFAUROA (OROA FAAINURAA VA’A)

7 November 2010

Tihoti will begin the traditional Tahitian launch of the wa’a with the sounding of the conch shell.

On the first sounding, he will invoke the divinities related to the elements – the sun, the wind, the ocean, the land: welcoming them to the ceremony.

At the same time, he will welcome Taaroa, the supreme god in the Tahitian belief system.

On the second sounding of the conch, he will invoke the god Tane, (god of  canoe builders and marae), asking Tane to bless Tefauroa.

He will baptize the wa’a with sea water held in a bamboo cup with Oihanu.

Finally, Mauatua will faahei (place flower necklaces) on Tefauroa.

All this to ensure the safety of those who paddle the wa’a Tefauroa.

After the launch, we will post the orero (speech), as this will depend on the day’s weather.

Tihoti as translated by Pauline Barff also provided some terminologies that we should become familiar with:

A BIT OF VOCABULARY

WA’A PARTS

tino va’a                                  body of the wa’a

ama                                         outrigger

pae ama                                  left-side of wa’a

(tau ama - ancient word probably used at time of Bounty)       

Pae atea)                                 right side of wa’a

(tau atea - ancient word probably used at time of Bounty)

‘iato                                         crossbars or struts of wood attaching outrigger to canoe body

‘iato mua                                 front crossbar

‘iato muri                                back crossbar

parahira’a                               seat

(’apa’apa or noho were the ancient words used at the time of Bounty)

STROKE TECHNIQUES

huti pa’ari                               long reaching hard stroke used for paddling against the current

huti pe’e                                  short light stroke for surfing waves

huti roa or fa’aroa                  long reaching stroke, not as hard as the huti pa’ari, used in calm conditions                                           or surfing waves

ha’apine or pine                      short, very fast stroke

fa’arotahi                                syncronise

THE PADDLE

hoe ’afaro                               paddle with straight shaft used for steering

hoe fefe                                   paddle with double bend (one where the shaft meets the blade and the other                                          mid-shaft)

hoe hipa                                  paddle with a bend where the shaft meets the blade giving blade an angle of                                           around 15 degrees

rapa                                         blade of the paddle

’aufau                                      shaft of the paddle

maura’a or tapeara’a             handle

TEAM

fa’ahoro or ’afa’i                    1^st person who gives the speed of the stroke to the rest of the team

peperu or tau’ai                      last person who steers

tura’i                                       the middle paddlers who are the engine

tare                                          Captain who calls the order for the rythym

by Tihoti (aka Georges) translated to English by Pauline

Our next meeting will be Friday November 5th,  at the sports and workers club, if they are still operating, but stay tuned in case there is a change of venue.  The purpose of this meeting will be to finish organising the launching of the Tefauroa.  Another Under 18 disco fundraiser has also been scheduled for Friday November 26th, so please keep an eye out for this and if you can volunteer some time that would be great.

Next Meeting, U18 disco fundraiser, Boat Launching

 Hey yorlye, just a couple of pics to update you all on the progress of the canoe.  The inside has been varnished and waiting for this to cure before top coating the outside of the hull.  Jason has laminated timbers from Silky oak, camphor laurel and pine to make the paddles for the canoe.  He's holding the steering paddle, which is slightly different shape and timbers from the other paddles.
Brian Adams has received the name back  from Tahiti.  For those of you who aren't aware, we were going to name the boat Sylvia, but wanted Sylvia's tahitian name.  She doesn't have a tahitian name so we suggested they put forward a name and Brian sent me through this e-mail:  The name that came back from Tahiti is TEFAUROA  have been told it was the Tahitian name for Point Venus this is where the Bounty  sailed from.

As mentioned to you before Sylvia does not have a Tahitian name hence their suggested name "Tefauroa"

"

Whilst in Tahiti with Helen on a holiday we spent some time with Sylvia's family. " Moana" Sylvia's son was into the Va'a at the time collected me and I went to watch him train with his crew . Then we  picked up his  brother Lesley who is Sylvia's eldest son, who is very famous in Tahiti for his records achieved in Va'a single canoing. I believe that still up to this day his record still has not been broken.    Lesley trained 6 hrs a day  7 days a week prior to his record race  achievment.  Included in this training was running up & down mountains. From a lunch session with Moana, Lesley & myself  we were discussing  the Va'a & it's traditions & for whatever reason Lesley decided to give me the plans for a 6 man va'a.   This is how the plans came to Norfolk Island which were hand drawn by Lesley, the instructions were in French & Nicki Beadman kindly translated it back into English for me.  Leslie also offered to come to Norfolk to help pass on his knowledge & to help train if ever needed.

We are currently getting the name for the boat transferred onto decal to be attached to the boat before it is launched.  On that note, we are looking at launching the boat in about 2 weeks.  We will be making it a bit of a fundraiser for the club also.  So we will have a meeting this Saturday 4pm at Emily Bay to discuss the launch and upcoming fundraisers, and also to do some more paddling training in the dunga canoe at the beach, just so you can build an appreciation for what's to come in the real outrigger!

Our U18 disco was a great success.  Thankyou to all who turned up to help, and to all the parents out there who supported this event.  We raised around $1200 for the club, but not sure of the exact amount as we still have the account for the drinks to settle.  The combined income from entry fee, snacks and drinks and glow products made it a great fundraiser for the club and the kids loved it!

Special thanks to Tania Sharp for all of her organising of lighting (thanks Andre Nobbs), music (thanks Miguel and Eddie), dj's (thanks Bob and Gaby).
Thanks to Slick for sausages and Hot Crust for the bread.  Thanks also to Louise and Lexi Tavener for their help with the shop and facepainting, (and for the loan of the bin!!) and to Sorrel Ciantar who also donated her time to the shop.  Special mention to Deb Johnson and Mick for all their help through the night.  Mick got a great tip for the fantastic nail painting he did.  Thanks also to the crew of guys that transported lounges and equipment.  We would also like to thank Norfolk Island Administration for waiving the hire fee for the supper room, to assist us with our fundraising.  Thanks also to Norfolk Island Police for security in the carpark ensuring it all ran smoothly. I'm sure there are lots of others to thank, check this weekends paper for Tania and Johns roundup.

seeya Saturday 4pm, ready to paddle!

Show day Fundraiser, The Outrigger on show

Firstly, congratulations to Jason Chubb (and Lou Evans) for winning first prize in the woodworking section of the show, with the outrigger canoe of course.  It attracted heaps of attention, especially at the start and 62 people had a go at guessing the weight of the canoe.  Congratulations to Mel Plant who was the closest guess and Mel wins a $100 voucher from Norfolk Blue restaurant.  Thanks to Robyn and Jap at Norfolk Blue for their donation of this prize.  2 new members joined the club at the show, and our fundraising efforts raised $1134.30 for the club.  Excellent hey!

Thanks to all the generous people who donated prizes.  We didn't get to chocolate wheel everything, so I'll contact the donors of prizes we have left and see if it's ok to carry them over for our next fundraiser.  The biggest thankyou needs to go to Vicky and Michael Jack for their fantastic efforts today talking up the chocolate wheel the whole time.  Not only that, but they were also our biggest customers on the chocolate wheel closely followed by Kyla, who spent all her money on the chocolate wheel also.  Thanks also to George for picking up and dropping back the chocolate wheel, and also to the NICS easter carnival for the loan of the chocolate wheel and paddles.

Thanks to John, Jason, Lou and whoever else helped get the outrigger to the show, and to Wendy for having the foresight to enter it in the woodworking section.  A big thankyou also to Alison and Adam who also manned the outrigger fundraiser all afternoon, only taking a break to see daughter, Danielle, ride in the horseriding events.
The pic above shows Alison being bombarded by water bombs, and Adam, playing it safe selling the water bombs.  It was the best activity for the high school kids.  Thanks also to Tony Janssens for his stint in the canoe, sorry I didn't get time to get pics till the end of the show.....actually the very end, so if anyone else has any ?? feel free to put them up on the blogspot.  Just click on the sign in and then click on New Post to add photos and your commentary.

Thanks to Wendy who manned the "guess the weight" and the raffle on her own the whole afternoon.  It would have been good to have a bit more help on our activities, so please keep it in mind for next year.  Half an hour from everyone would have had a better fundraising outcome for the club, but we did extremely well anyway.

Thanks to Matt Bigg who also spent the whole afternoon selling paddles in the chocolate wheel and also donating prizes and generally being a great support to everyone.
Thanks to everyone who donated prizes, Brian Adams 4kg fish raising the most in a single event on the chocolate wheel.  We'll be making a thankyou to everyone in the paper next week too.  Thankyou to members that helped fill the water bombs which was a pretty time consuming task.  Lastly, thanks to all the people who supported the club by buying paddles and water bombs, raffle tickets and guesses to make it a great fun and highly successful fundraiser for the club.

Our next fundraiser is this coming Friday night.  Something for the kids, and U18's disco.  $5 entry and lots of snacks, drinks, tattoo's, face painting, nails, glow sticks and finger lights to purchase to make the night fun.  We're hoping to have a sausage sizzle early on so spread the word yorlye.

We also had a paddling lesson with Tihoti at Emily Bay on Saturday.  I didn't get pics, but Cristina may have, but will update the blog again morlae.  Sorry if I have forgotten to thank anyone, but will pick up on it again soon.  Regards, Lou

Ready to Paint, Show Day Fundraiser update

Hey Yorlye, well this is the canoe ready for painting.  The next time you see it, it will be........not telling, you'll have to turn up to the show on Monday for a looksie!

The Showday fundraiser is going to be bigger than Ben Hur lots of prizes contributed so far. These include: 4kg fish, Gardening voucher, Bone Carving, Norfolk Online Annual Subscriptions, Gas Centre Vouchers, Brolly and Beach Towel from Westpac, 4hr Pamper Package, Produce (veg and fruit)boxes, 2hr Massage vouchers, Piano Lessons, Sunglasses, 

 Red Lacquered Bowl, First ride in the canoe (will be a big drawcard as lots of interested parties!)  Wendy had another great idea, "Guess the Weight of the Canoe", and we will also be having a fun activity waterbombing paddlers where people buy waterbombs to throw.  Also a couple of hat designs are ready for production and we will be selling these on Monday also and taking orders for more.  Hats will retail for around $22.50, but not a definite price yet.  Please register your interest for preferred hat colour and embroidery print colour.

We are still investigating insurance, and have a few good quotes.  We will be making a decision so that we can be insured for next Fridays (Oct 15th) U18's disco, venue to be decided in the next couple of days.  Remember if you have a fundraising idea that you would like to make your project, with lots of help from the rest of the club, bring it on!

Thanks to everyone who have pledged prizes and offerred their time to staff the fundraisers.  Much appreciated.  Remember the goal.....the first boat!  Then.....another boat!

 

 These are the 4 designs to choose from.  The pointed design could probably be printed on the side of the cap, whereas the bigger design would be on the front.  The 3pointed designs are by George Barff and the rounded one is by John Christian.

Showday fundraiser, boat build progress, merchandise artwork

 

Wow, a lot happening this week.  Firstly, next Monday showday is a great opportunity for us for fundraising and also the first opportunity to show off the boat to the general public.  So, lets update you all on progress of the boat as of today!  The canoe is a traditional polynesian shape as you can see from the nose shape in the first image.  The second image shows the seat positions in the boat with a full length view.  The third image shows Jason demonstrating where the outrigger is to attach and the arm that links the outrigger float to the canoe.

 

I asked Jason how heavy it was and how difficult was it to turn it over last week and as you can see, he's lifted one end out of its cradle single handed, so there's not too much weight in it.

In all, it looks fantastic and its not that far off being finished, so its back to the funraising funds to finish paying for this one and getting a downpayment on another.



I have to post this image, as I was so relieved when I first saw our boat that it wasn't going to look like this home build!!  Hope this doesn't offend the builders and paddlers of the boat in the picture!

Anyway, back to business.  Offers for prizes for the chocolate wheel fundraise at next mondays show are coming in which is great.  Thanks to those members who made a quick response.  The Easter Carnival organisers are kindly allowing us to use their chocolate wheel on the day.  We also thought it might be a good opportunity to get a few hats ready to sell, seeing as showday is usually hot and lots of people forget to bring a hat.

So, thinking of merchandising, some of the clubs fantastic artists have been hard at work and this next image is one of George's designs as it will appear on the caps.  We've got 4 designs so far and we will post some more as I get them print ready in the next couple of days.  Hope you have enjoyed the blog!