Thursday, August 4, 2011

seven traditional vaka cross the Pacific

Photo Courtesy of Pacific Voyagers

On Tuesday seven traditional Polynesian ocean-going canoes arrived in San Francisco after traveling 15,000 nautical miles from the South Pacific.
The 70-foot (21.3 metres) long boats, called vaka [the NZ Maori word is waka, see earlier post], have been navigating by the stars. Besides catching wind in their sails, the boats have also been drawing energy from solar-powered motors. A major goal of the trip is to draw attention to environmental and sustainability issues.
More on the Discovery News website; official website

No comments: