Lapita Voyage Website Back Online

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By James P
Tama Moana sailing past a smoking volcano

The Lapita Voyage website, which has been offline for some time due to issues with the domain, is now online and available to browse again, under a slightly different web address: www.lapitavoyage.org

Background

The 'Lapita Voyage' began in the first week of November 2008, when two 38ft double canoes, designed by James Wharram Designs, based on an ancient Polynesian canoe hull-form and built in the Philippines, set out on a 4,000Nm voyage along the island chains of the Philippines, Indonesia, New Guinea and the Solomons.

Their destination was Anuta and Tikopia, two tiny, remote islands at the Eastern end of the Santa Cruz Islands, where the boats arrived in mid March 2009 and were donated to the islanders for their future inter island voyaging.

The ‘Lapita Voyage’ was a major expedition in Experimental Marine Archaeology. It was the first exploration by Ethnic sailing craft of one possible migration route into the Central Pacific. The voyage was made entirely under sail without motors, using traditional Polynesian crab claw sails and steering paddles.

A Voyaging Canoe For Tikopia

Those of you who remember the concept website 'A voyaging canoe for Tikopia' can now find that site's content on the relaunched Lapita Voyage website, as we felt the subject matter overlapped.

The Relaunched Website

Browse the website here: www.lapitavoyage.org