“One of the important thing I learnt is how to Navigate” Meet young Nawai who sailed from Fiji to Solomon Islands

By Jimmy Nolan 

In the month of August Uto ni Yalo voyaging canoe from Fiji with a 15 regional crew from Oceania left Suva for the Pacific Islands Forum Leaders Meeting (PIFLM) in Honiara, Solomon Islands. 

After days at seas, Uto Ni Yalo reached Temotu and accompanied the Traditional Taumako Tepuke canoe to Honiara, honouring Solomon Islands’ navigation heritage and supporting the Motalava Treaty between Solomon Islands and Vanuatu, which aims to recognise traditional ties and establish joint Ocean, cultural and development initiatives.

Amongst the 15 regional crew in the Vaka Uto Ni Yalo is young Maciy Nawai a 17 years old from the Island called Lau Fulaga in Fiji who sailed for the first time from Suva Fiji to Solomon Islands.

“My name is Maciy Nawai and I’m 17 years old and I am the youngest member of the crew on the Vaka called Uto Ni Yalo”.

“This is my first time visiting the beautiful Solomon Islands, and I came all the way from Fiji where I started my journey in voyaging last year. 

Nawai recalled that the voyage from Fiji to Lata took them nine days, and five days from Lata to Honiara.

“We spent a lot of time sailing across the ocean. One of the most important things I learned during this trip is how to navigate.

“Although I didn’t know much about navigation before, my crew taught me a lot while we were at sea,”’ he said.

The long ocean journey is a learning experience that he ever came across in life that will go down in the history book. 

“Imagine you left your family home, when you were in the middle of the ocean and sometimes you come across bad weather as the weather pattern can change any moment either during the night or day as the Vaka Uto Ni Yalo depend on the wind to move,” he explained.

At the yacht club bay in Honiara young Nawai told SIBC believed that the Vaka Uto Ni Yalo and Traditional Taumako Tepuke canoes successfully delivered the message of ocean peace to the 

“ It is important to pass down this knowledge and these skills, as our ancestors used these canoes to travel between Islands and countries before,” he said.

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