Paddles from the best... I think

Recently when we were in Wewak, in the Sepik region, I was able to find out that if you want a paddle made, the best people by far to have make them are the Iwam people. They're river dwellers and seem to be well known for their skills on the water... and for their paddle making. An expat friend of mine happened to have a paddle (see pic) made by the Iwam and I was impressed with it's light weight and strength. So I decided that rather than making the paddles myself, maybe I'd try to see if we couldn't find someone from the Iwam who would be willing to do the job for me. My expat friend made the arrangements sometime after we left. I wasn't able to make the arrangements myself because these folks don't make it out to town often. It's mere chance that you see someone from that area. As it happens, the day after me and my family flew to Madang, my friend saw someone he knew from Iwam. He agreed on a fair price for the paddles and will make them and bring them to Wewak sometime.
So sometime in the near future (maybe next few months) I should be the proud owner of 4 paddles for Shan Skailyn that look a bit like the one in the picture. One difference I was told about is that they typically make the end of the blade taper out with a longer (but still flattened) point. The paddle in this pic was modified by it's current owner. I might modify it a bit too maybe by wrapping the ends of the blades with fiberglass to keep from splitting, and then putting 4-5 coats of varnish on them.

No sails yet

Well our little excursion to the beach for swimming on Sunday produced very little in the way of outriggers. I did manage to make it over to the village that was right near where we were swimming. However it seemed that everyone was out on their canoes already. I wandered around the beach a bit and did manage to find a couple outriggers, but no owner. Everyone was gone.
I'm starting to think that my chances of getting a good look at a traditional sailing outrigger here in Wewak are pretty slim at this point. The workshop has us pretty busy. I do spot many a sailor from afar though, from where we're staying. We have a nice view of the ocean from up on the hillside. The silhouetted figure in the small picture is about all I can capture with my telephoto lens. Oh well. Maybe this weekend.

Wishful Thinking in Wewak

My family recently had to travel to the town of Wewak, in the Sepik region of Papua New Guinea) for a translation workshop. I've been so busy with the workshop, going Monday through Saturday for two weeks, that I've not really had a chance to go to the beach or any villages to check things out. I'm really interested in looking at their different outrigger canoes. And get this... many of them have sails here! I would like to see the different ways they rig theirs and maybe make myself a wontok (friend) who wants to take me out on a ride with him. But for now, I'm constrained, due to the busy-ness of the translation workshop, to just enjoying the ocean view from the hillside that we're located on.

I've seen some traditional outriggers out there and it looks like the majority of them are using polytarp for their sail material. But it's just far enough away that I can't really see details, even with binoculars. I also saw this painting in one of our offices, done by a local artist named Nanias Maira. The painting depicts the look of the local sailing outriggers.

We're planning a time to go to the beach this Sunday morning. I've heard there's a nearby village to where we're going that has a bunch of canoes. Maybe that will be my chance to check some out and get some pix... and maybe... just maybe catch me a little ride.

Standing by...

You may have noticed that I've not posted anything for a couple weeks here. We recently left our bush location for some language and translation workshops in town. Won't be back into Mibu for another 4 weeks still. Meanwhile, all of Shan Skailyn's materials simply wait.
I did, however, manage to finish one of the drawings of what her paint job may eventually look like. I'm going to buy the needed paint while we're out here.
BTW, the outline is scanned from Gary Dierking's book and photoshopped. I then printed it and then colored it in by hand.