Outrigger revival

WHEN THOR JENSEN VISITED the 2015 Kenu and Kundu Festival in Alotau, in southeastern Papua New Guinea, he was captivated. The annual event celebrates the traditional sailing canoes (kenu) and drums (kundu), which are of great cultural significance to the local community of Milne Bay, where the event is held.

Seafaring canoes have a long history and are still in use today. Simple and elegant in design, the canoes’ hulls are made from large hollowed-out hardwood logs. These are joined to outriggers by sturdy timbers carved from lighter branches. Bamboo is lashed across their frames, creating small deck spaces, and masts, rudders and paddles are hand-carved from local wood.

The canoes are made almost entirely of materials found in the lush tropical forests that cling to the region’s mountains. But their sails, which were traditionally woven from pandanus leaves, are now typically made from modern tarpaulins that dry quickly and are more easily maintained.

Intrigued by the crafts and the skill with which local sailors manoeuvred them, Thor wanted to learn to sail one. Having paddled 1300km around Denmark in a kayak and sailed across the North Atlantic, the Danish adventurer, filmmaker and illustrator had proven sea legs but had never sailed a traditional dugout canoe. He became determined, as the three-day festival progressed, to sail a Milne Bay canoe and experience life on the water like the local people. Milne Bay Province has some of the