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The people of Polynesia used canoes for their exploration of Pacific Ocean. However, these canoes are of surprising complexity for a supposedly primitive people. The two types of canoes that were used were the outrigger canoe, and the much larger double canoe. The double canoe consisted of two hulls, made as to be as close to identical as possible. These hulls were placed parallel to each other, and held together with several stout booms (iako). These booms varied in number, some sources indicating that each canoe had three or four booms, while other sources indicated that there were six or possible more booms. However, the canoe with 6 booms was considerably larger than the other craft, and additional booms helped to keep the craft stable. The booms were lashed to the canoe rather oddly, but the method seems to have worked fairly well. Whenever a boom crossed the gunwale (upper edge of a vessel’s side), a curved U-shaped or bow-shaped spreader (wae wa’a), was inserted with its arms upward and touching the boom. [image] Two cleats supported each spreader, which the boom was lashed to. The booms sustained a small platform at least two feet above the gunwales. It was here that warriors would stand if the canoe was going to war. The vertical sides of each hull, once past the curved bilges (rounded portion of a ships hull, where the side meets the bottom), becomes a rounded bottom, but without a keel. The ends are brought up to sharp points by strong lengthwise curves. The main washstrake (thin material from one end of the canoe to the other) was about six to eight inches high and sewn on the edge of each dugout except for several feet at each end, where it was replaced instead with a shaped board (ka laau). The ends of the canoe were made into a short, upturned point (manu), which was flattened at the topmost part.
Additionally, the Polynesians also used outrigger canoes, which were much smaller and had only one hull. However, these canoes were equipped with outriggers, as the name suggests. The outrigger was used to help prevent the canoe from capsizing, since the ocean is rougher than lakes or rivers. The hull itself is very similar in construction to that of the double canoe, with a few minor changes. The outrigger canoe still has booms, but these are instead attached directly to a float made of a light wood, rather than attaching to another hull. However, the same method used to lash the booms of double canoes was used for outrigger canoes. Since they were much smaller, outrigger canoes would often be used for fishing, rather than long ocean voyages. The fishermen often outfitted their canoes with a notched rack to hold fish spears and poles in place. It was lashed outboard, with sennit passed through holes and onto the booms. With these two types of canoes the islanders were free to roam both close to home and across the vast expanses of the ocean. But it was necessary for them to be knowledgeable on navigation to avoid being lost at sea.
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