Samoans with a sense of adventure are wanted to crew a traditional ship on an epic voyage. The Samoa Voyaging Society promotes Polynesian culture, traditional navigation and environmental awareness.
As part of this project, the OKEANOS foundation is about to deliver a traditional 22 metre va’atele to SVS and also to the Voyaging Societies of American Samoa, Fiji, New Zealand, Tahiti and the Cooks.
Four countries have already received their canoes, have selected their crew and started training. The Samoan va’atele is in its final stages of construction and should be in Samoa next month. Small trips around the Samoan islands and possibly to Fiji will be conducted to train the crew.
The first major trip of this project is a voyage between French Polynesia and Hawaii starting in April 2010. All the va’atele will meet in Raiatea, French Polynesia and sail together to Hawaii. The fleet will stop in the Tuamotus and Marquesas before reaching Hawaii and then will sail around the Hawaiian Islands.
Handling the va’atele requires a crew of 12 to 16 including a cook. SVS is now looking for people to join the crew and represent Samoa along with the other nations involved in this project. The crew will be constituted of a skipper, a cook, three watch captains and six to ten cr
ew members.
The crew members will be volunteers but pay may be discussed later for some of them. All costs will be covered during the voyage and the preparations.
The SVS steering committee is now holding interviews to select crew members. If you are interested in getting on board, please come to the Apia Yacht Club on Wednesday November 4 at 2pm. Requirements for the crew:
• men or women • be at least 18 years old • be available from December 2009 to August 2010 • know how to swim • be fit and in good health • be able to refrain from smoking and drinking when on board the boat • show interest and a certain knowledge of Samoan history, traditions and legends • mix well with others • be comfortable with being away from home for extended periods and sailing across the Pacific • past sailing experience desirable but not compulsory • English language knowledge is not compulsory • all nationalities and all religions are welcome
There is no cheating with nature and its forces, motivation and sincerity are the main criteria for this selection. For further information, contact Marc at 7720276 (English speaking) or Harry at 7584128 (Samoan speaking). If you are interested but cannot make it to the interview, please call one of these numbers to arrange another time to meet you.
Is this for real?!?! I've always wonered if we had a Samoan voyaging society back home. I was in Tutuila when the Hokule'a sailed into pago harbor. Although i found it interesting, I didn't realised the siginifigance of the event. I remember asking my dad who were those people and he told me those are our cousins, the Hawaiians.
A few years later my family and i(i was eight) moved to hawaii. Growing up in the housing, no one really talked about cultural things especially sailing. But in high school a Hawaiian classmate, and church-member, asked me to come join his canoe club. I didn't learn much as far as sailing goes but i got to meet the legendary sailor Nainoa Thompson. He told me that if it weren't for Samoans, most of Polynesia wouldn't be inhabited.
Anyways, since then i've been reading about our sailing history. I am in meteorolgy school for the Air Force so joiningthe crew now is out of the question. Hopefully, one day i can return home to Samoa and be part of this historic journey into our illustrious past!!
