FDL first made a fibreglass waka back in 1989 based on an original waka displayed in the Wanganui Museum. We worked with expert designers to ensure we produced an excellent product. Bruce Askew drew up the lines, in-house engineers made the plugs and moulds on site at Fibreglass Developments, and then High Modulus designed the laminate which included a divynicell core. The first step in manufacturing a second waka was to get the moulds out of storage and resurrect them to a usable standard. After sitting for so long, the moulds needed repairing and re-prepping before production could begin.

Centre & end sections laid with Divynicell

The hulls were made using both hand lay and vacuum bagging processes, and come out with a high gloss gel coat finish.

Floor glassed - and gelcoated ready for de-moulding

The floors were laid in, glassed over and gel coated before each section was ready for de-moulding. The original waka had been designed and manufactured in three sections, with the centre section carrying 1.8 tonne of ballast for stability. Initially this time, only the two end sections were bolted together to make a waka 16.6 metres in length - this meant a few design changes had to be made to allow the ballast to be added below the deck.

De-moulding an end section

The finished sections were removed from their moulds by an overhead crane. They were then fitted out with fibreglass seats and side cladding (coloured red) and wooden carvings at each end that were provided by our clients.

The finished waka was then loaded on to a transporter and delivered to its home in the Waikato, where it was successfully trialled on the Waikato River. The centre section was finished and despatched at a later date. It gives our client the option of adding another 6 metres to the length of the waka to give a finished boat that will hold a total of 44 paddlers.

The completed Waka on its inaugural journey on the Waikato River!