Young sailor fulfils dream on Pacific Voyage with father

An 18-year-old girl fulfilled her lifelong dream of sailing alongside her father across the Pacific Ocean as the youngest crew member aboard the Uto ni Yalo.

Talei Ledua from Nayau, Lau, sailed with her father Kaiafa Ledua, 47, one of two traditional navigators on the canoe, during the three-leg voyage that took them to the Solomon Islands and Vanuatu before returning home.

“It feels amazing, I feel very grateful and blessed because that’s what I’ve been wanting to do ever since I was young,” said Ms Ledua.

“I’ve looked up to him ever since I was a little girl.”

Her role as stewardess involved keeping everything clean and tidy under the hulls and managing toiletries.

Mr Ledua, who was born into a canoe-building family, said his daughter had always been interested in boating and attached to the ocean from a young age.

“She’s always been a part of Uto ni Yalo while growing up,” he said.

“But she’s not there because I’m there. She has to be there on merit, just like any other crew.”

As a traditional navigator, Mr Ledua guides the canoe using nature, identifying stars each night and detecting currents, just as ancestors did.

“You’ll be lucky to have a full week of stars to view them at night,” he said.

“But when there are no stars, there are other alternatives to be guided by.”

The voyage took almost nine days from Fiji to Lata in the Solomon Islands, five days to Honiara, two weeks to Vanuatu, and then back home.

The crew faced one major storm crossing from Honiara to Port Vila, breaking a beam and running for shelter on a Solomon Islands stop.

Ms Ledua, who has always wanted to be a sailor like her father, plans to keep sailing with him.

“I plan to keep sailing with dad until whenever,” she said.

Feedback: kaneta.naimatau@fijisun.com.fj