HERE’s a new project of its kind that could soon be a fixture on Suva waters for tourists — a new drua cruise experience.
Led by the energetic Samual Nuttal, and his fellow sailors who incidentally were former crews of the famed Uto ni Yalo, the five have an ambitious plan of starting a new drua cruise business which could soon see tourists enjoy sailing one of Fiji’s well-known traditional double hulled canoes and in the process promote sustainable sailing.
The New Zealand-born said he had his first taste of sailing the drua when he was six years old aboard one of the crew, Setareki Ledua’s grandfather’s canoe called Tabu Soro, along the Lami foreshore.
“To me this was a giant and somehow magical craft, though it can’t have been more than nine metres in length and only capable of carrying us and the three crew.
“Both my father and my impressionable self were left awestruck by the ease and prowess this craft and its crew possessed,” the 27-year-old described.
Sam is the son of Professor Peter Nuttal, a research fellow at the Pacific Centre for the Environment and Sustainable Development, at the University of the South Pacific and an expert in the heritage of drua, the giant Fijian double hulled sailing canoes.
For Sam, that experience would later see him along the banks of the Navua River in 2014, to build his own drua with the help of his crew: Moala Tokota’a, Setareki Ledua, Ali Wright and Kaiafa Ledua who are now helping him man the canoe for test sails.
Called the I Vola Siga Vou, the 50-foot double hulled canoe was launched in November this year. According to Sam (who used an inheritance from his grandmother to build the canoe), the vessel cost “a little over $200k and included added modern modification.
He hopes Fijians would realise their ancient navigation and sailing history throught the drua cruise business.
“I want to see many sustainable sailings on our waters, no pollution and certainly no smell of petrol.”
He and his crew are now awaiting their certification from Investment Fiji before they can embark on a commercial business. Tourists from cruise liners in Suva could enjoy a trip on a replica of the once historical drua of the 18th and 19th century when only chiefs used to own such sleek vessels.
“We want to play a small part of the revitalisation of the drua. I see that there could be plenty young people with a keen interest in learning about it, learning how to build them and how to sail them.
“We want to look at building the business and one of the ways of doing that is trying to be ethical about it. So it’s going on profit-share arrangement with all the crew so that they can see the direct result of their hard work. So if business is good they can take a part in it, if it’s slow then of course we’ll have low shares. Once the vessel has paid off its initial investment then we can start using its profit share so that they can combine shares of ownership of the canoe so hopefully the idea is we’re able to trade out — that the crew are able to take over ownership of the boat and then on that idea we want to work on building the drua culture and the sailing culture. There’s no reason why the proceeds from that at that stage couldn’t go to all of them building their own boat and having their own crew.”
The I Vola Siga Vou records up to 16 knots at its best and the crew have even sailed it to Beqa and islands nearby. An interesting feature about the vessel, however, is that it was made in replica of the only known drua in the country — the 103-year-old Ratu Finau drua which now lies at the National Museum. With the permission of the museum, the crew carried out measurements on the canoe to build a modern version.