Page 12 - Islands Business June 2023

Transport Transport

HEART OF THE SPIRIT

ABOARD THE UTO NI YALO

By Sera Tikotikovatu-Sefeti of her sails, and the giant oar helping to steer the boat in the
right direction as it sailed on the dela ni waisiliva, a phrase
When the Uto ni Yalo docks on any wharf, it demands atten- describing the waters surrounding Bau island.
tion; its double-hull and magnificent traditional design set it Also aboard was Kaiafa Ledua, the Uto ni Yalo Trust Vice
proudly apart from modern boats. Wherever this siren of the President, a sail master and experienced traditional navigator
sea goes, you can’t help but be captivated by its beauty and who has been involved since the Uto ni Yalo’s maiden voyage
feel connected to our proud history. in 2009. Ledua told us: “The lost art of wayfinding is some-
The Uto ni Yalo, which literally translates to ‘Heart of the thing that the Uto ni Yalo is trying to revive at the moment,
Spirit’, is not a traditional Fijian drua in design. Rather, it first of the legacy of the double-hull canoe that we call a Drua
fuses various traditional central Pacific canoe designs, utilising in Fijian. The word itself is a combination of two words: ‘Dua’
modern boat-building materials and technologies. The 72-foot means one and ‘Rua’ means two, and when you combine them
Vaka Moana is wind and solar powered. together, you call it ‘drua’. The Fijian double-hull canoe was
The ‘Uto’, as she is fondly called by her crew, is not just a the apex of the pinnacle of maritime technology in that era,
celebration of indigenous Pacific Islanders’ craftsmanship, but before the schooner or any other European boat arrived and
also of indigenous science, such as celestial wayfinding. settled in our islands.”
As we climbed aboard, the crew’s first word of advice was, Ledua says the Uto—with its double mast and double sail—
“Please take off your shoes; treat the Uto like you are enter- differs from the Fijian druas that were traditionally reserved
ing your house.” only for high chiefs.
That invitation tugged at my heart as I sat on the deck Sailing aboard the Uto, I felt as if I was following in the path
observing the intricate carvings adorning the Uto, the flapping of my ancestors. Growing up on myths and legends about the

12 Islands Business, June 2023