A Tipairua is a Tahitian double hull sailing canoe of which I built a smaller replica for a Polynesian voyaging organisation. This is a brief view of the construction and predawn launching ceremony. Note that canoes are carried and not dragged into the water with participants bathing it with hands full of seawater.
Fascinating ritual -- I wonder if the ritual bathing of the boat has any relationship to rituals of childbirth?
wadetarzia 3 months ago