Modern times,

modern boats

BOAT-BUILDING in Fiji has come of age with Fijians building high quality gamefishing boats within Fiji.

Shipwright Peter Tamatawale has witnessed the rapidly escalating crafts manship from his days as a young boy building wooden punts, to his present day position as the foreman of luxury gamefishing boatbuilders, Fiji Custom Craft Limited. As a youth Peter used to make punts and traditional Fijian boats

with his friends. His uncle was working for the Government shipyard, and he secured an apprenticeship there in 1971.

He left to work in-Australia for a couple of years, but returned to Fiji to work with Fiji Custom Craft.

When he goes back to the village he sees his people still using rafts and home made boats. When they come to his work and see the size of the boats he is building they are amazed.

“They look at what we are building and they ask how we do it. We are all Fijians and we have had some training from an Australian man, but I think that really it’s a matter of having

some push yourself,” he said.

“Maybe to some of the locals the boats we’re building are too modern, but the tourist industry are used to this kind of quality it’s what the resorts and gamefishermen expect. Our boats have to be fast and strong these days or we’d ruin our reputation.”

Fiji Custom Craft Limited is building its boats to an Australian design with Fiji Development Bank and National Bank of Fiji backing, and is looking at exporting. Peter has been out on the company’s boats, but he still enjoys quietly fishing on Suva harbour in a small boat.