‘Doka Na Kaci’ launch
FOR more than 100 years, the ancestors of villagers of Vutia in the Rewa Delta used canoes as their only means of transportation to fetch food and firewood.
But it was not until the 1930s that their descendants began to build proper wooden boats.
According to The Fiji Times report on June 8, 1977, when the villagers acquired a new boat that month, the villagers staged a traditional Fijian ceremony “cere” to welcome their new boat.
The boat was christened Doka Na Kaci which translated to “respect the call”.
Doka Na Kaci was built in four weeks at a cost of $600, and her engine cost $890.
The name tried to depict the strong significance of the respect between the people and their chief.
The launching of the new boat, the biggest to be built for the village of Vutia, opened a new chapter for their seafaring history.
The villagers’ love for the sea, boats and sailing was hereditary and because of the soaring transport costs, a boat was an economic form of transport.
Villagers who worked in Suva would travel early in the morning by outboard motor-powered punt to Lokia landing where they would catch the bus to Suva.
In the modern age of technology, a 33ft open boat powered by a 50 horsepower outboard engine would not lift an eyebrow.
It meant easier transportation for people and their produce to urban centres like Suva and Nausori.
Vutia is situated at the estuary of Fiji’s largest river, the Rewa River, so the villagers are flanked by water.
Small, open punts powered by outboard engines were a common sight, but the new boat was the biggest.
The villagers were happy because they could tell, from that moment on sail across Laucala Bay, whether it was rough or fine, direct to Suva.
With smaller punts, it was always risky and several times in the past boats capsized while trying to cross the bay.
The construction of Doka Na Kaci was prompted by the decision of the villagers to build a church to replace the existing one.
A meeting was held during the Easter Holiday weekend, and the villagers decided because of the high costs incurred in the hiring of boats and trucks for transporting building material, as a group, they could build a boat big enough to load these items from Suva and ship them direct to the village.
This would in return reduce cost and time.
The boat was launched on Saturday, June 11, 1977 in Laqere before making her maiden voyage to Vutia, where she was accorded the cere ceremony.
The ceremony was similar to that performed for the arrival of the Fiji Naval Squadrons ex-United States minesweepers in 1976.