The Spirit of the Sea - Pacific Voyagers

What a great inspiration! Unknown in advance, I had seen the Pacific Voyagers and seven boats at Monterey Bay, California!

August 13, 2011, late afternoon sun shone on the weekend Monterey beach. I saw some unusual boats, actually ancient looking boats, mostly like the boats made by Maori people from New Zealand, anchored to the beach in the bay.

I was so attracted by the beauty of those boats, and a couple of handsome sailors paddling people back and forth from the beach to the boats. I didn't want to miss this good opportunity, and started shooting...

A local lady chatted with me that these were Pacific Voyagers - a group of Pacific Islanders from Aotearoa (New Zealand), Cook Islands, Fiji, Samoa, Tahiti, Papua New Guinea, Solomon Islands, Kiribati, Vanuatu, and Tonga. They started in April of this year, passing the Marquesas, and Hawaii on their journey.

Also she said that I missed seeing the landing, which was a traditional American Indian ceremony for welcoming friends from afar. A great amount of people watching and it was a quite emotional time for everyone...

The challenging part was how to create this incredible story, also a historical record on canvas(es) to pass the message through my artist's perspective, and to contribute to the community... Took me for almost a month.

Luckily, I was there, saw them, and took some footage... working through the ideas, overcoming all the difficulties, and they are finished now... Using a traditional style, to show my respect for these brave Voyagers who sailed ancient Polynesian vaka moana boats to renew their commitment to healthy ecosystems for future generations.

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