Vintage Jaluit walap photos

 

I was in the Ethnologisches Museum in Berlin-Dahlem. They have an original Tepukei

from the Santa Cruz Islans, a Kiribati (Gilbert Islands) proa, a giant New Guinea proa

(I think it's a De Wang) a half-size replica of a Tongiaki, and a Walap from the the

Marshall Islands.

 

The boats are not exposed to the public since about two years (despite what their

webpage says) so I went mad. The curator may be a lazybones, but the museum's

personal is very nice. They turned on the lights and let me backstage, cool!

 

The light was miserable and I had no tripod, so I pushed the ASA to 2000 and did

some Photoshop magic, don't complain about the quality. The 3D pictures are

anaglyphs, you may download (all photos are thumbs) and watch them with those

funny glasses, red filter over your left eye, green/cyan/blue over the right one.

 

The double pictures are cross-eye stereo pairs, you don't need glasses for

those. The best method to see them is:

1) cover your left eye with your hand

2) look with your right eye to the LEFT picture, and cover with your other

    hand the right picture completely

3) pull slowly your left hand to the side, until you can see the right picture only

 

You will see double at first, but in a couple of seconds your eyes cross and

your brain puts all together. Sometimes unfocusing helps at first, for a

minority of the population nothing helps (if so, feel especial).

 

The boat in this pictures (the others were covered in plastic) is the Walap.

During the german colonial period, Mr. Otto Finsch went to the Jaluit

atoll to buy a boat for the museum. In 1880, king Loik was at war with

king Kabua, and short of money, so he sold the boat.

 

p.s. Click on [Enlarge] to download a much larger image to enjoy.

 

 

Anagyph red-left right-cyan. [Enlarge]

 

 

Stereo-pair, cross-eyed. [Enlarge]

 

 

  

Lee-side anagyph, red-left right-cyan. [Enlarge]

 

 

  

Stereo-pair, cross-eyed. [Enlarge]

 

 

  

Anaglyph of the ama and akas assembly. [Enlarge] The ama has more holes than

needed, and shows some repairs. Maybe it belonged to another boat before.

 

 

  

Ama & akas, stereo pair. [Enlarge]

 

 

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The rest are normal photos.

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Yard step. [Enlarge]

 

 

 

 

The other end. [Enlarge] The green stuff is not paint nor fungus, it's image processing.

What are the holes for?

 

 

 

Sail's top. The psychodelic blue is due to gamma-curve manipulation. [Enlarge]

 

 

 

Ama & akas seen from the boat's hull. [Enlarge]

 

 

 

Windward platform. [Enlarge]

 

 

 

Windward platform. [Enlarge]

 

 

 

The center of the boat, seen from the lee side. [Enlarge]

 

 

 

The center of the boat, seen from the windward side. [Enlarge]

 

 

 

The center of the boat, seen from the winward side. [Enlarge]

It's my ignorance or the mast step is missing?

 

 

 

The hull seen from lee, upwards. [Enlarge]

 

 

 

The hull seen from lee, again. [Enlarge] The curvature seems to be due to poor preservation ot the boat. Shame.

 

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Three pictures from walaps on Bikini atoll, 1946

(just  before it was nuked)

 

Photos (public domain!) courtesy of Jack Niedenthal, from http://www.bikiniatoll.com/

 

 

[Enlarge]

 

 

[Enlarge]

 

 

[Enlarge]

 

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The followiing come from the Wilkes Expedition, officially:

"Narrative of the United States Exploring Expedition during the years 1938, 1939, 1940, 1941, 1942."

by Charles Wilkes, Vol III, Philadelphia: Lea & Blanchard, 1845.

 

The beautiful engravings are from Alfred Thomas Agate (1812–1846)

 

 

 

Tongan Kalia, the mast should be stepped over the winward side of the vaka. [Enlarge]

 

 

 

Another one from Tonga. [Enlarge]

 

 

 

Fijian Camakau, on the background is Bau Island. [Enlarge]

 

 

 

This Camakau belongs to Tanoa, chief of Bau. [Enlarge]

 

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