island legacy reborn
pp. 52-53 · Read in the full issue
Whaler 2000 project: an island legacy reborn
IT’S a big legacy,” says Whaler 2000
Project chairperson, Rhonda Griffiths,
when asked what the whaling industry means to Norfolk Island.
“It’s in the blood,” adds historian, Bob Tofts.“Every Norfolk family had a member who was a whaler. Building this whale boat is a project for the whole island.” Similar to so many efforts across the Pacific, members of the Norfolk community are actively seeking to capture an important
part of their cultural heritage. Their project, christened the Whaler 2000 Project, is to build a traditional open-boat whaler and sail it to the Bth Festival of Pacific Arts in Noumea this October. In so
doing, they are saving long-standing boat
building and nautical skills. Whaling reaches
to the earliest times on Norfolk. Within a year of the Pitcairners arrival in 1856, 33 of the men, almost half their total number, pooled their money to buy a boat from a passing American ship. From that time until the late 19505, whaling’s importance to a largely cash-less society made it a truly island-wide endeavour.
Stories are still repeated of acts of skill, courage and derring-do wresting a 40-foot
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humpback whale to the side of a 30-foot whaler and sailing or rowing the sometimes 20 miles back to the island. If a whale crew did not make it home by dark, bonfires were lit around the perimeter of the island to offer a beacon in the vast, black sea. All would be well when from out in the distant darkness those waiting on land could hear
the invariable refrains of a Norfolk hymn getting closer to shore, the men giving thanks for their safe return. The tales remain, but the skill to build a whaler was about to be forever lost. Indeed, the craft being built is largely being constructed from photos, dairies and the recollections of the few remaining individuals, all in their 70s, who can remember the unique design
features of the Norfolk craft. The project has captured the Island’s attention, with donations of time, material and money sustaining the effort. Rhonda and Bob hope to launch the first of three boats sometime this month. Training of the seven-person crew, descendants of early Pitcairn whalers, will then begin in earnest for their 450 mile trek to Noumea. ■