On January 18, 1778, the English explorer Captain James Cook became the first European to travel to the Hawaiian Islands. Aboard the ship RESOLUTION was the painter John Webber, who accompanied Captain Cook on his third Pacific expedition. John Webber made numerous images of Hawaii, amongst others, about sailing canoes. I noticed he drew lines across some of the sails to illustrate the lauhala mattings the Polynesians sawed together to build the sail. More so, the color alternated from one matting to the next, and it was only after talking to some local lauhala weaver that I got the explanation for the alternating color. Indeed, the lauhala leaf's color is creamy on one side and light brown on the reverse side. So, the mattings were weaved in such a way as to show the light color on one side of the matting and the darker one on the reverse side. While carving this canoe, using prime curly Koa wood and wide by 18 inches, I tried to replicate the visual aspect of those ancient Hawaiian sails and sail taking the wind, which gives a sense of movement to the outrigger. It takes 3 days to assemble and finish such a sail but the result is unique.

If you ever want to purchase such an exclusive piece of Polynesian history, please allow me 10 days to build it, especially for you. The model is supplied with the signature stand as illustrated above, and a bronze plaque bearing the model's name and its artist's name.

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