Tay Perry
Posted on October 6, 2007
While having two guests from Germany I decided to take them to La Mariana for lunch. After enjoying some mahi mahi and a good beer, it occured to me that the Friends of Hokulea and Hawaiiloa have their workshop near by. I decided to scout the area to see whether I may find the workshop. I have not been there since a few years. After a few twist and turns we spotted some canoes and therefore knew that this must be the workshop we were looking for. I could not believe my luck, there was Tay Perry in discussion with some people. I know Tay Perry from his trip to Brest many years ago and from taking part at the Hawaiian Woodshow. Tay is such a nice and humble person. I, and certainly many others, consider him as one of a handful of Hawaiian canoe carvers and restorators of very old canoes, some of them just barely ressembling a canoe. But Tay will put them together to their old splender, and some of them have found their place in the lobby of famous hotels, and museums. Tay had the grace to give us a tour of the workshop, showing us the latest canoe he is currently working on it. This workshop is a museum in itself, the place is littered with old broken fishing canoes dating back to the begining of the 20th Century waiting to be re-assembled, shaped, sanded, lacquered or oiled. Tay introduced us also to some other workers and helpers there, all of them sacrificing time to preserve what is certainly the most vivid symbol of the Polynesian culture. I truly feel that Tay and all those working in that shop deserve much more credit than what has been given to them up to now. They are the shipwrights behind the success story of the contemporary Hawaiian canoes.
Filed Under The friends of Hokulea and Hawaiiloa | Leave a Comment