Canoe presented to Madagascar Government
PA Levin The outrigger canoe in which the New Zealandborn adventurer, Bob Hobman, sailed from Indonesia to Madagascar earlier this
year has been presented to the Government of Madagascar. The crew of four has been presented with Madagascar’s highest civil honour.
. In a letter to his mother, Mrs Agnes Hobman, of Levin, from his base in Paris, Mr Hobman said he had given the. 20-metre canoe Sarimanok to the nation.
The Philippines had also wanted the craft for its display at Expo ’B6 but they would have to settle for a larger model, said Mr Hobman.
The vessel was hewn with primitive adzes from a single tree for the 6500 km Kon-Tiki style voyage without landfall. It was fashioned and provisioned in the style of 3000 years ago to show that Madagascar could have been populated by Indonesians 2000 to 3000 years ago.
Mr Hobman said that voyage was a triumph for the ‘‘crazy canoe” ana as an exercise in navigation and endurance, and that people in Madagascar were “wild with delight” when the Sarimanok was successful.
A former journalist with Wellington and Wanganui
newspapers, Mr Hobman, who is 44, has been writing about the voyage for magazines, and is now raising money for another big expedition.
Permanent link to this item
https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/CHP19851203.2.138
Bibliographic details
Press, 3 December 1985, Page 26
Word Count
212Canoe presented to Madagascar Government Press, 3 December 1985, Page 26
Using This Item
Stuff Ltd is the copyright owner for the Press. You can reproduce in-copyright material from this newspaper for non-commercial use under a Creative Commons BY-NC-SA 3.0 New Zealand licence. This newspaper is not available for commercial use without the consent of Stuff Ltd. For advice on reproduction of out-of-copyright material from this newspaper, please refer to the Copyright guide.
Copyright in all Footrot Flats cartoons is owned by Diogenes Designs Ltd. The National Library has been granted permission to digitise these cartoons and make them available online as part of this digitised version of the Press. You can search, browse, and print Footrot Flats cartoons for research and personal study only. Permission must be obtained from Diogenes Designs Ltd for any other use.
Acknowledgements
This newspaper was digitised in partnership with Christchurch City Libraries.