Ratu Finau good as new
FIJI’S only surviving drua or doubled hulled canoe underwent major restoration works at the Fiji Museum in 1982.
Performing the task was Susan Thorpe, an Arts graduate with an Honours degree from Victoria University in New Zealand.
A The Fiji Times article on May 5 said Susan worked on the drua while the museum’s specialist conservator, Gladys Fullman, was away studying in Australia.
The canoe, ‘the Ratu Finau, Tui Nayau’, was presented to the Fiji Museum by Mrs W.P. Ragg. the granddaughter of the original owner, J B Turner.
Named after the farseeing chief who commissioned her, the drua was built in Fulaga, Lau, under the directions of a master canoe builder in 1914.
At the time, when this type of craft was fast becoming a thing of the past, a deliberate effort was made by Ratu Alifereti Finau and Mr Turner to build and preserve the fine drua before it was too late.
Concerned at the disappearance of this formerly vital support of Fijian life, Ratu Finau tried to gain government interest in funding restoration and preservation of a large derelict, but was unsuccessful.
Seeing this, Mr Turner came forward and offered to finance the work to preserve the canoe thereafter.
Unfortunately, by this time, the derelict had rotted beyond repair.
Undeterred, Ratu Finau’s canoe builder began working on a completely new but rather smaller canoe in its place - hence the Ratu Finau Tui Nayau was born.
When completed, the canoe sailed to Suva and after repeated trials in the harbour, she proved to be the fastest craft of her day, reaching phenomenal speeds of 17-18 knots.
According to the Fiji Heritage, a monthly museum publication, the canoe probably sailed last in the 1920s when she was featured in an American film The Adorable Outcast.
Thereafter, she was looked after by Turner and his descendants until 1981, when Mrs Ragg presented it to the museum.
The Royal Fiji Military Forces took the delicate task of transferring the canoe from the Ragg’s old home in Nasese to the museum.
The drua remained in the gallery and safely fumigated. Susan Thorpe had given the drua a thorough preliminary cleaning.
She applied a consolidating epoxide resin to the interior and exterior, which was damaged by wood-eating insects.
Afterwards, there was a cosmetic application done to fill up the holes and uneven surfaces.
Sawdust was mixed with epoxy to be used as filler.
A final touch-up with light wood polish would give it its once satin appearance.
Apart from this, a new sail and rigging gear was to be made by traditional canoe builders from Fulaga, Lau.
Finally, when all was done, dozens of white cowry shells would be lashed to the hull ends and on sides of the hut, denoting its status as a “waqa tabu” or chiefly canoe and thus restoring Ratu Finau, Tui Nayau to its former glory.