Outriggers Return
p. 42 · Read in the full issue
To Suva
After a long absence, having been pushed into the back ground by rather more efficient craft, the picturesque out rigger canoe is back on Suva Harbour. A 28-year-old Lauan, Aminio Qalovaki, is operating two outriggers—a 26-footer and a 30-footer—for tourists, who can hire them from the marina at the Tradewinds Hotel. He introduced them in May, having experimented first with one at The Fijian Hotel. By making six or seven trips a day at The Fijian, he said, he'd made as much as $l40 a week. In July, he'll take delivery of a 45-footer, now being constructed at the island of Nayau, where he was born. The hulls are carved from kau vula or vesi wood —and are unsinkable. Construction of one outrigger takes Nayau craftsmen about two months. -Photo: Bal Ram.