Francis Cowan is one of the last renown Polynesian navigators. In 1981, assisted by his son in law Matahi Brightwell, he began the construction of a Va'a Taurua, or Pahi, a Polynesian double hulled sailing canoe. He named it Hawaiki nui, from the name of the mythic land where the Polynesians originated from.

In 1985, following the instructions left by Kupe, the mythic navigator that discovered New Zealand, he sailed onboard Hawaiki nui to Aotearoa (New Zealand) without modern navigational instruments, using Te Ra - the Sun, Ta'uruanui - Venus, Tauha - the Southern Cross, as his main guides.

Today, Francis Cowan at the age of 80 years, attempts to revive the feats of Hotu Matua, the legendary chief who led his people to Rapa Nui (Easter Island) and an unknown navigator who took the son of Maui to South America and brought back the kumara (sweet potato) which was later taken to New Zealand.

PREVIOUS EXPEDITIONS

TAHITI NUI, 1956

Francis Cowan sailed on a bamboo raft with French adventurer Eric de Bisshop from Tahiti bound for Chile. After being at sea for 200 days they went through a cyclone which lasted 16 days and damaged the raft. The Chilean Navy was called to assist but in a botched rescue they lost the raft.

We asked the navy boat for food supplies. They gave us wine, onions and potatoes. Their commander proposed to tow us towards the Juan Fernandez Islands for shelter to repair our raft. We accepted. Unfortunately the tug boat went too fast, and damage occurred to the front of our raft. This damaged made it too difficult to carry on with the towing procedure. We had to make a decision on the fate of the raft. Alain and I decided to stay on the raft, while asking our three other companions to go aboard the Chilean ship. We had onboard the raft a zodiac which could carry five people, and which we could use in we ran into trouble. We calculated that it would take us two weeks to reach the shores of Chile, our final destination, with what remained of our raft. Eric insisted that we remained together until the end, and either all stay on the raft, or all leave the raft. And so it was.

VAA MOTU, 1960

The project was to build a sailing dugout canoe to go to Hawaii. It is today in Teva Yrondi's art gallery in Cook's Bay Moorea.

It is a very good dugout for the fast connections between the islands, with one large "hoe" (paddle) which is used as rudder. I sailed it several times between Tahiti and Moorea, and I was very happy with the results.

TE AIO O NUKUTAIMEMEHA, 1989

Matahi would commence the construction of a Maori war canoe or "Waka Taua" for the tribe of his mother, Ngati Porou. This totara wood canoe was 45 metres long and could carry 150 paddlers. He put 10 years into the project. Finances being scarce, Matahi had to construct the canoe practically by himself, or with the help of volunteers. This Waka Taua is the biggest modern war canoe ever constructed in New Zealand. It is an outstanding work of art and maritime design. Te Aio o Nukutaimemeha is resting at the mouth of the Waiapu River which is the sacred river of the Ngati Porou.

HAWAIKI NUI I, 1985

Matahi Brightwell had already commenced the construction of this double hulled canoe in Pahiatua, New Zealand. After meeting Francis Cowan and and making an initial voyage to Tahiti and Raiatea, he accepted to help Francis in the building of his double hulled canoe. Matahi decided to donate the hulls that he was working on to Francis, since :"the dream of Francis was older than mine" and build his canoe first. The hollow hulls were shipped to Tahiti for completion and sail back to New Zealand. The two totara trunks were entirely cut with adzes, a job that Matahi has perfectly mastered. The sea trials and the voyage towards Aotearoa permitted him to learn about navigation by sail and without instruments, just like the first Polynesian navigators. This project had for me two important objectives; to experiment with the concept of using ancient tools to build a canoe, and to validate navigation without modern instruments from Papeete to Moorea, Raiatea, Rarotonga and Auckland. The voyage was successfully completed in 1985.

The season chosen to navigate towards New Zealand was carefully selected. One piece of information about the best season was given in the story of a Maori chief who on arrival to Aotearoa (New Zealand), and seeing the Pohutukawa flower trees in full bloom, decided to throw away his "maro ura" (red feather belt used by chiefs) into the sea, saying "this land is mine". The "Pohutukawa", like the "Puarata" of Tahiti is of a sharp red coloured flower with dense green foliage. The Pohutukawa flower blooms in the summer months. One could then deduce that sailing should be done in November.

HAWAIKI NUI II

This project started in 1999 by the cutting of totara trees in Okaihau, the Northern region of New Zealand. The dream of Francis Cowan, shared by Matahi, has been to construct another double hulled Polynesian canoe to go to Chile, return to Tahiti and then sail back to New Zealand. The project is now in progress, with the construction of the Hawaiki Nui 2 at Vaiare, Moorea. Francis and Matahi chose the trees, and again under the direction of Francis Cowan, Matahi is in charge of the construction of Hawaiki Nui 2.