Giornale della Vela

Ontong Java: I sailed with the last pirate on his self-built wooden catamaran

  • February 23, 2022
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ontong java catamaran

How I met Hans

When the tide is low, beautiful waves form where the bottom rises, waves suitable for everyone, even beginners like me. That’s where I met Hans, he was on his “long” and surfed the sets that came up with style. Hans wore a cap with a visor that went all the way around his head, like those of sailors or fishermen, in the middle was embroidered a name, Ontong-Java.

The inscription was similar to those found on classic racing polo shirts, with the name of the boat on the heart. I began to talk to him, discovering that he was in a boat, moored at the buoy field in front of the harbour, and after a few minutes, he invited me to see it.

The next day I rented a sup and approached where I was told, the distance was considerable and from the beach I didn’t really understand either the size or the shape of the boat, but when I got closer I found it hard to realise what I was seeing: a wooden catamaran twenty to twenty-four metres long with three girls on board who were training and dancing to the rhythm of music.

Tommaso Oriani

I approached from the starboard side and asked for Hans, the girls called him politely in chorus, he came out from below deck. He was a tall man, of indefinite age but not young, dark hair, slim build, big jaw. The scene before me was unique, so unusual. I asked him if he could arrange an outing one of those days (I was on holiday with my family and some friends), he wrote his number on a card and said to call him. After two days we got on board and set sail. The experience was unique, that’s why.

Hans’ boat

The catamaran falls into the category of revisited “Polynesian pirogues, it was self-built on the island of Ontong by Hans and his host villagers. It is 24 meters long and 7 meters wide.

Tommaso Oriani catamaran

It is entirely built in wood using mostly recycled materials (the mast was a light pole, the boom a long branch (broken several times) found in the jungle, the sails and deck equipment are also recycled: the mainsail is a set of three stitched sails and the jibs were salvaged after storm surges, as were the winches and blocks; “ it’s amazing what you can find after Caribbean hurricanes, there are people who abandon boats still with everything on board, they pay the insurance anyway ” said Hans.

last pirate

The interior is rather basic, of course, but not uncomfortable. They are arranged along the two hulls: on one side, the galley, living room and a couple of bunks; on the other, bunks, reading area and “leisure area” with surfboards and the like, wetsuits. Water is collected in large blue containers and there is no fridge or icebox, but there is a gas bottle. “The wooden boat is the best,” says Hans, “if something breaks, you just have to change the plank(s) in question, which is much better than fibreglass. ” The Ontong-Java catamaran has sailed four times around the world.

ontong java catamaran

How did they get on board? Through a boat stop website ( crewseekers ) and by word of mouth. The most imaginative of the three is Blanca, a Spaniard from Barcelona, who lives on a 6-metre boat moored in the Caribbean and has been sailing on Ontong Java for a while. After a few beers, we got to know her a little better and discovered that she was not only a sailor but also a tattoo artist and avocado stone carver…

The English girl never spoke and looked at you in a shy way, the Mexican was the youngest and apart from her Apulian past, I didn’t know much. To the question: ‘What is the relationship between you and the girls’, ‘better not to ask’, said Hans.

The Captain: the last of the pirates

Hans is the son of a Swiss mercenary , enlisted in the Foreign Legion, who, after the battle of Algiers, decided to quit his ‘job’ and devote himself to his passion: sailing and treasure hunting.

ontong java catamaran

So they left with their wives and children. After a few years they found what they were looking for. The Portuguese galleon Santiago, sunk off the coast of Madagascar and hiding a real lost treasure in its holds. They lived on it for a while, but it goes without saying that they squandered most of it on enjoying life.

His father returned to dry land, while Hans tried to get into Marine Biology in New Zealand, but failed because he had not had a “classical” education (although he knew everything about fish and marine biodiversity): “if you can sail, you don’t need to learn anything else”, his father claimed. He thus resumed plying the seas halfway around the world, he was known and respected from the Indian Ocean to the Caribbean Sea, “you can come sailing with me in all seasons”, he would tell me, “I always know a shelter available, even if it’s stormy”.

He has shot at pirates in the Philippines, smuggled alcohol into South Africa, has children he hasn’t seen for years, and has been in jail for a few years.

And here I’ll stop because the story is already beautiful as it is, for those of us who mostly go sailing in expensive fibreglass shells on Sundays, have a desk job and get excited about winning a regatta. It comforts me to think that there are people like this and that perhaps, deep down, there is a small part of us that is like him, a pirate soul, an anti-hero who dreams of living outside the common laws, roaming the world’s seas, free.

Tommaso Oriani

Photos taken on board the Ontong Java

ontong java catamaran

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Ontong Java II by Hans Klaar

Discussion in ' Multihulls ' started by JCaprani , May 3, 2012 .

Angélique

Angélique aka Angel (only by name)

Alex.A said: ↑ Link to interview? Click to expand...

JCaprani

JCaprani Junior Member

peterchech said: ↑ I was under the impression that Hans used his catamarans to ship goods to remote parts of the world, essentially he is an old school merchant. I'm not sure how building a traditional catamaran helps him at all, esp since his last cat was built extra large specifically so he would have more cargo space. According to his interview with Webb Chiles at least... Click to expand...

Alex.A

Alex.A Senior Member

I am curious about crab claw rigs - and Hans Klaar has tried most / has a lot of experience. He seems to favour the tacking rig with jib - but as he's seen (sailed on?) Glenn Tiemans Tama Moana/child of the sea - what are his impressions of it? Also what would he think of a tacking version - i.e. a ketch version of his last rig? Similar to his Tehini but not overlapping the mast. Will he retain the same rig as the last Ontong Java?  
https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-0WA6blOoe7E/T9FF7yBnmmI/AAAAAAAALLw/gegyaA9PoTU/s640/P5240668.JPG https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-2cBsmpylXDM/T9FGHtiw7jI/AAAAAAAALL4/FwFG_uQ1dYs/s640/P5240667.JPG https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-ff2m_JgyNT8/T9FGYtpOG8I/AAAAAAAALMA/3A1VxYnC-4o/s640/P5300689.JPG https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-cINnw5MHgLM/T9FGmMHvhPI/AAAAAAAALMI/qMryQUoJmms/s640/P6010697.JPG https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-1UbbrYy-e50/T9FHWZWsQrI/AAAAAAAALMo/GwFmUHSWf44/s640/P6070736.JPG https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-IDFhzeH14Gk/T9FIHSq7VBI/AAAAAAAALM8/6DrYx2V0tXw/s640/P5300695.JPG  

Knuffka

Knuffka New Member

So bloody good to see Hans doing it, life so good. Knuffka  
What happened to the pics and google+ album? Any news on how it sailed?  
The album is being moved to tumblr and I'm in the process of uploading today. Look out for a short film on vimeo soon. The ship has sailed over 2000nm already and is at sea right now.  

goodwilltoall

goodwilltoall Senior Member

How long did Hans due time for crime?  
Google it.  
Update at atom voyages.com under sailor interviews.  

ImaginaryNumber

ImaginaryNumber Imaginary Member

How does Hans Klaar navigate? Has he been seduced by 21st century GPS; or is he still old-school compass and sextant; or perhaps Polynesian wind, waves, birds and constellations?  

Mufasa

Mufasa Waka frother

The old Ontong Java goes by the name 'Mareva' now. She has had a decent refit in NZ and is now back on the water... A few photos and a video on this blog: http://frequenciesoflife.wordpress.com/2013/01/31/marevas-maiden-voyage/ Be great to meet up with Hans and Ontong Java down the line somewhere!  
More blog posts!! Enjoy the boat.  
New on Atom Voyages ---> Hans Klaar on Building and Sailing the Polynesian Double Canoe Ontong Java Cheers, Angel  
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Looks like Hans used the style and build method of the pirogues that can be seen throughout the West African coast and adapted the hull form for catamaran use as per Admiral Paris' plans. Some West African pirogue examples... St. Louis, Senegal - ( pic source ) click pic to enlarge click pic to enlarge Below - near Banjul, Gambia - ( pic source ) click pic to enlarge BTW, Hans also built near Banjul. Found some info about the pirogues in an FAO report (pdf). FAO LIBRARY AN: 320319 - IDAF / WP / 39 - PURSE SEINE AND ENCIRCLING NET FISHING - OPERATIONS IN SENEGAL, GUINEA, SIERRA LEONE, GHANA AND BENIN - July 1991 From the report page 14 (is page 20 on the pdf) ‘‘ THE BOAT. The Senegalese Pirogue has evolved from the dugout canoe and has a solid beam of wood some 40 - 50 cm thick as a keel upon which side planks have been fitted to increase both the size and carrying capacity of the canoe (see fig 3 * ). These side planks are linked together by transverse thwarts, cross beams and occassionally bulkheads which give the hull strength. Strips of heavy canvas are nailed lengthwise over tarred caulking to stop leakage while at the stern of the canoe an outboard engine mounting bracket is situated amidships over a well cut directly through the keel. The length of canoe used in the purse fishery has increased since the mid eaghties to an average of some 18-20 metres but there are some canoes of this type which now occassionally reach 24-26 metres in length. Example measured at Dakaar Fig 3 * proved to be 24 metres in length. ’’ ​ See the pirogue drawings in the report * (Fig 3 from the quote) on page 13 (is page 19 on the pdf), and page 25 (is page 31 on the pdf). And compare it to John's photos (unfortunately gone) and the one below, on which Hans based his boat, from the in above post linked article. click pic for source John, could you please repost the pictures that are gone or provide a link where they can be seen ? That would be nice Cheers, Angel  

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ontong java catamaran

Particularities of Ontong Java's catamaran (?) of Hans Klaar

  • Posted by luis on March 10, 2020 at 10:28am in NEWS
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Hello. Ontong Java certainly is no a Wharram, but, James Wharram expressly welcome him and is friendly with the design, etc.

My question is if anyone knows why the hulls have different length? 

And moreover, if such circumstance benefits in any manner the sailing ability.

I also see that the mast and the foresail are placed not in the middle but more close the the longer hull.

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ontong java catamaran

Thank you Michael.  I understand he followed some ancient pirogues. I knew this article, but didn't find therein a specific explanation about the sailing performance, Tks Rds Michael Cook said:

I seem to remember that Hans wrote quite a bit about the rationale for his design: https://www.atomvoyages.com/articles/sailor-interviews/327-hans-kla...

ontong java catamaran

Hans Klaar started off with a Wharram boat but later on moved on to "his own" designs ... Plse check;

Hans Klaar on Vimeo

Thanks for the Vimeo link, much enjoyed it. If I were a bit younger I'd build one like that.

My boat is currently "locked-down" in the boatyard due to coronavirus. (UK). After a lousy wet winter,  when working outside was impossible, now the weather has improved, we can't get to our boats. So it's nice to look at videos of them sailing...

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25-year-old woman with St. Augustine ties takes to the sea in global voyages

Kiana Weltzien stands in front of her 41-foot catamaran that she is repairing in a boatyard on Riberia Street in St. Augustine on Tuesday. Weltzien sailed worldwide and lived on the boat for the last two years. She plans to sail to Europe at the end of this month.

Kiana Weltzien's personal blog detailing her sailing adventures across the globe is called "Where's Kiana?"

The title is appropriate since Weltzien more than fits the definition of a nomad — in this case, one at sea on a rebuilt 1970s-era catamaran that's been in dry storage at the St. Augustine Marine Center since last fall as she prepares for her next voyage.

Weltzien laughs as she recalls how she used to live a "normal" life.

"I was a real estate agent in Miami," she said in an interview with The Record Tuesday.

Blonde, athletic and tanned from hours in the sun working on her boat, the 25-year-old was home-schooled in a small farming town in Brazil before returning to the U.S. to attend public school in seventh grade.   

St. Augustine's maritime history: In nod to maritime history, St. Augustine names official seafood: wild-caught shrimp

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She has a couple of ties to the St. Augustine area: Her grandmother lives here, and she attended Flagler College for a time several years ago. 

By 2016, while still living in south Florida, Weltzien decided she was cut out for a different life.

She set out first as an au pair/English teacher for a family living on a boat near Saint Martin in the Caribbean. 

"It was like a whole new experience," Weltzien said. "I didn't know people lived on boats as like a lifestyle."

Trips to the Dominican Republic, South America and other locales led to a meeting with her now-boyfriend Hans Klaar, a boat-builder whose own vessel was a 70-foot long Polynesian voyaging canoe.

Soon, she found herself living aboard his ship, the Ontong Java.

"Here, I had an example of a wooden boat, built by hand and the sweat of one’s brow," Weltzien recounted in a post on her blog . "A boat on which anything can be repaired, rather quickly and efficiently, using a piece of wood, a hand-plane and some string. 

In Panama, already married to a life at sea, Weltzien found what would become her own home away from home: a black 41-foot plywood Wharram Narai catamaran, built in 1971 and named Mara Noka.

'We've been a long way together'

To look at the condition of the vessel — even as it's under reconstruction in the St. Augustine shipyards — the first question that comes to mind is: Is it seaworthy?

Weltzien acknowledges this, saying: "I know, it looks worse than it is," adding that the boat has transported her safely on dozens of voyages over the past two years — to Africa, the Caribbean and Europe — and even as the structure has taken on water in past trips.

"We've been a long way together," she said as though she were speaking of a best friend.

The catamaran has a "dog-house" compartment where Weltzien sleeps on a full-sized mattress, has a propane stove to cook food (mostly vegetables) and stores fresh water. There is no running water or electricity.

Weltzien is the first to say her chosen lifestyle is not for everyone.

"It can be lonely, but I think I'm just weird enough that it's not," she said. "All I can say is that there's this feeling of being absolutely alive ... like, you know you are on the ocean floating on something that could float you or not, and there's a sense of passive adrenaline. ... You're constantly fighting the elements, but at the same time there's time to relax and read a book."

Weltzien uses a 25-horsepower outboard motor to gear up when first entering the waters and then returning to port, but for the most part, she leaves it up to the wind to propel her boat.

She also does not use electronic navigating tools, outside of a GPS.

"There is no chart plotter, no depth sounder, no radar," Weltzien said. "There is no auto-pilot or self-steering system; somehow, with a little help from me adjusting the sails, it [the boat] knows just what to do."

Her cellphone works only so far out on the waters, but she does have an EPIRB, a satellite wave radio frequency device used for distress in maritime operations, in case of emergency.

Kiana Weltzien knows hers is a risky journey

Weltzien said that while her parents are always worried about her, they've become used to the headstrong, stubborn will she's displayed since she was a young girl.

Now, she voluntarily chooses to explore the world on her own terms, something she realizes could be considered risky.

"If I think about it too much, I get scared," Weltzien admitted. "It can be a little nerve-racking, so I just keep going."

Currently, the Mara Noka is being dismantled and rebuilt in preparation for Weltzien's journey, as well as the hulls and deck repainted, and cockpit and engine remounted. She hopes to set sail by the end of the month or early June at the latest to beat the hurricane season in crossing the Atlantic Ocean to Portugal where she will meet up with Klaar. The trip is expected to take about 28 days.

As Weltzien signs off in her blog, which updates readers on her whereabouts: "Batten down the hatches, because it’s going to get wild."

Classic Sailboats

Ontong Java – 75 ft Polynesian Sailing Canoe

The Video Rambler – The amazing Ontong Java visited Rat Island in the Tagus estuary!! Such an iconic vessel right on my playground! Edgar sailed by the day before and told me Ontong Java was there and of course I had to go and check it out!! It’s not everyday one sees a 75ft Polynesian canoe!! Grabbed my Goat Island Skiff and sailed to Rat Island. Hans saw me and shouted “Hey!!! I know you!!” to what I replied “Cool!! …’cause I know you too!!” 🤣 He immediately invited me aboard for a cup of coffee and… well have a look at the video, an image is worth a thousand words!

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The Mysteries of Ontong Java

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The Ontong Java Plateau is a massive, submerged seafloor platform north of the Solomon Islands that is slightly larger than Alaska. The largest volcanic eruption in the planet’s history likely formed the plateau, but just what caused that strange disgorgement remains a mystery.

During October, Falkor  took an international team to the region to search for clues that might help explain what happened. In the process, the group collaborated with Schmidt Ocean Institute to produce seafloor maps that will improve tsunami predictions for people living on Ontong Java’s atolls and that may also provide new information about the history of sea level change–currently rising–in the region.

The expedition’s chief scientist, Mike Coffin, a marine geophysicist at the University of Tasmania’s Institute for Marine and Antarctic Studies, has been studying the region for two decades. He worked with scientists from the United States, the United Kingdom, Germany, Papua New Guinea, and Japan.

Check out chief scientist Mike Coffin explaining the goals of the expedition and the mysteries of Ontong Java.

Why the Mystery?

Mapping and other research at the Ontong Java Plateau (OJP) has been severely limited, both because of the scarcity of ships with advanced sonar systems such as Falkor ’s, and because the area is so remote. The plateau’s geological origin and development remain a mystery mainly because of that limited work.

One critical research need was for samples from the crust that forms the OJP—what geologists call the igneous basement. The catch is that that original magma rock layer now lies beneath several kilometers of seawater and a kilometer-thick blanket of sediment, and researchers have had a difficult time finding a way to access it.

Long-running international scientific ocean drilling programs have worked on the plateau, but getting that far down through that much sediment is an expensive and time-consuming process, so there are only seven boreholes into igneous basement there. Still, such work has yielded a surprising story.

All the drilled rock samples seem to be similar chemically, and they’re all about the same age—roughly 122 million years old. The fossils found in the samples also appear to be from the same geological period—the Cretaceous. That’s why scientists are reasonably confident that the OJP was formed in a single, massive release of volcanic magma. The total release would have had to be a million times larger than the largest volcanic eruption in recorded history.

The challenge for researchers is that none of the hypotheses so far proposed for what caused that event completely fit with the limited data currently available. One idea is that a massive meteor crashed into the seafloor there, forcing out a gargantuan pulse of lava like smashing a jelly doughnut. But there is scant evidence in the geological record for a major impact event at that time.

Another idea is that something called a mantle plume was the culprit. Most of the planet’s volcanic activity occurs at places where tectonic plates are spreading apart or colliding—creating pathways for lava to erupt from below. But some volcanic activity happens away from the spreading centers at places called hotspots where warm material ascends from great depths and erupts at the Earth’s surface. Such a mantle plume resulted in a hotspot that formed the Hawaiian Islands and is still active today.

Some scientists believe the Louisville Hotspot southeast of the OJP and due east from New Zealand may have created the plateau. The confounding factors here are that the chemical signature for OJP rocks don’t match the chemical composition of other material originating at Louisville, and the OJP’s location is substantially off from what might be expected based on current understanding of the region’s tectonics.

What They Did

One of the main missions for the upcoming cruise was to figure out if there is a window to the OJP basement that could allow collection of deeper samples, and hopefully a more complete view. The scientific ocean drilling program samples came from the upper portion of the basement, but the magma layer that forms the plateau is some 35 or more kilometers thick, so a huge portion of it had never been studied.

A primary target was a roughly 4,000-meter-deep feature called Kroenke Canyon on the eastern side of the plateau, which had never been mapped. In fact, almost none of the plateau had ever been mapped in high resolution save for a few slices done across the southern end in preparation for laying telecommunications cables between Australia and Asia years back.

Once the team completed detailed maps of Kroenke Canyon using Falkor ’s seafloor mapping sonar , researchers were able to identify steep, deep cuts that likely expose lower portions of the basement layer. They also employed  Falkor ’s subbottom profiler, which uses acoustic signals to probe the type of material below the seafloor, to identify exactly where the boundary between sediment and igneous basement lies.

The original plan for this expedition called for using Woods Hole Oceanographic’s Nereus hybrid remotely operated vehicle to collect samples. But sadly, Nereus was lost earlier this year . Now the Coffin team hopes to work with German scientists in coming years to use a dredge to collect samples from spots identified as most promising during the Falkor cruise. The German group has had success gathering rock samples from similar sites

The group also mapped all around the Ontong Java and Nukumanu atolls southwest of the canyon—work that might just shed some light on additional mysteries in the OJP scientific tale, including how the islands formed, and the structure of the seafloor around them.

Most people have never heard of these island groups but one did have a significant, if unfortunate, brush with fame. Nukumanu was the nearest land when Amelia Earhart made her last radio transmission before disappearing during her 1937 attempt to circumnavigate the globe. But we’ll leave it to other groups to explore the Earhart mystery.

Potential Payoffs

Once rock samples are collected the researchers ran a full suite of chemical analyses. Data from deeper samples may offer clues as to whether one of the existing hypotheses is likely to explain the plateau’s formation or whether a new hypothesis is needed.

The mapping around the atolls could also tell another component of the larger OJP story. One key goal was to have analyzed the newly produced maps to determine whether the canyon extends in some form all the way to the islands. If so, that finding could be relevant to another mystery, namely how the canyon formed to begin with.

In the past, when sea levels were lower, more of the atolls were exposed and water running off that exposed land might have carved the canyon. But based on current limited data the scale seems to be off—meaning the canyon is much larger than what researchers would expect that such runoff could cut.

That disparity is why the team’s main working hypothesis at the outset is that a process called dewatering augmented carving of the canyon. As sediment builds up over millions of years, the accumulated weight squeezes water out of the lower layers of sediment, and just like water on land, that has to go somewhere. This water flow could have utilized a minor path in the plateau emanating from the atolls, and progressively deepened the canyon. But if the team finds no connection to the atolls, they’ll have to rethink their ideas and set to work figuring out how it all fits together. Very little is known about how canyons like Kroenke form, so what’s learned at OJP could also improve understanding of processes that shaped other canyons.

Another question the team explored was when these islands formed. There is some evidence that they are the result of more recent, and much smaller scale, volcanic activity. The group hoped to identify rock outcroppings around the base of the islands where they could collect samples to determine age and other information to help answer the question.

Detailed maps also revealed terraces near the atolls, which are telltale signs of places that were dry land when the sea level there was lower. Information about such terraces should offer insights as to the sea level history over geological time.

The work mapping around the islands will also have a very practical application. Though some of the islands in the atolls are inhabited, the models used to predict tsunami paths are sorely lacking high-resolution seafloor maps. Such maps are therefore desperately needed to make those models accurate and identify areas most susceptible to major tsunami damage. So, besides releasing other mapping data from the expedition, the team sent maps relevant to tsunami models directly to the South Pacific Applied Geoscience Commission. Given the region’s active tsunami history, any resulting forecasting improvements will be welcome.

by Mark Schrope

ontong java catamaran

The Final Deep

A student’s perspective: science without borders, equator crossing-birthday-halloween and seafloor mapping, data & publications, the resulting shipboard dataset is being stored at the rolling deck to repository and is now available., the resulting bathymetric dataset from the multibeam mapping the papahanaumokuakea marine national monument in the northwestern hawaiian islands using r/v falkor’s kongsberg em302 and em710 is being stored at the noaa national center for environmental information (ncei) . you can view all falkor datasets by using the filter surveys button in the left sidebar..

  • Cruise Report: Ontong Java FK141015
  • Coffin, Mike. 2014. Deciphering Ontong Java Atoll, Nukumanu Atoll, and Kroenke Canyon, Western Equatorial Pacific. Narrated seminar presentation available for download .  
  • Ketter, T., Coffin, M.F., Adams, N., Heckman, M., Lucieer, V., Neale, J., Reyes, A., Travers, A., and J. Whittaker. (2015). Multibeam Bathymetric Mapping of the Kroenke Canyon, Ontong Java Plateau, Aboard R/V Falkor. Poster Presentation at 12th Annual Meeting of the Israeli Association for Aquatic Sciences, Herzliya, Israel.
  • Adams, Nicholas. (2015).  Physical and Morphological Characteristics of the Kroenke Submarine Canyon on the Ontong Java Plateau. Bachelor of Science Honours Thesis, Institute for Marine and Antarctic Studies, University of Tasmania, Hobart, Tasmania, AUS.
  • Watson, S.J., Whittaker, J.M., Lucieer, V., and M.F. Coffin. (2015). The Ontong Java Plateau Uncovered: Mapping the Seafloor Surrounding Ontong Java and Nukumanu Atolls. Poster Presentation at 7th International Symposium on Submarine Mass Movements and Their Consequences, Wellington, New Zealand.
  • Adams, N. (2015). Bathymetry of Kroenke Canyon. Guest Lecturer, Institute for Marine and Antarctic Studies Honours Seminar, University of Tasmania, Hobart, Tasmania, AUS.
  • Coffin, M.F., Adams, N.J., Whittaker, J.M., Lucieer, V.L., Heckman, M., Ketter, T., Neale, J., Reyes, A.J., and A. Travers. (2015).  The World’s Largest Submarine Canyon - Kroenke Canyon in the Western Equatorial Pacific. Poster Presentation at American Geophysical Union Fall Meeting, San Francisco, CA, USA.
  • Meyers, H. and Sautter, L. (2016). Submarine Channel Association with Seamount Chain Alignment on the Ontong Java Plateau .  Poster Presentation, Ocean Sciences Meeting 2016,   New Orleans, LA, USA.
  • Carruth, M., and Sautter, L. (2016). Geomorphology of the Kroenke Canyon on the Ontong Java Plateau , Poster Presentation at the Canadian Hydrographic Conference, Halifax, NS, CAN.
  • Watson, S., Whittaker, J., Lucieer, V., Coffin, M. and Lamarche, G. (2017). Erosional and Depositional Processes on the Submarine Flanks of Ontong Java and Nukumanu Atolls, Western Equatorial Pacific Ocean.  Marine Geology, 392 (2017) 122 - 139. doi:  http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.margeo.2017.08.006 .   [This publication is available as OPEN ACCESS].
  • Coffin, M. (2018). The World's Largest Submarine Canyon - Kroenke Canyon in the Western Equatorial Pacific.  Oral Presentation,  Institute of Oceanology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Qingdao, China.
  • Coffin, M. (2018). The World's Largest Submarine Canyon - Kroenke Canyon in the Western Equatorial Pacific.  Oral Presentation,  Ocean University of China, Qingdao, China.

In the News

The mysteries of mapping ontong java plateau.

All Things Marine Radio Show • October 27th, 2014

Scientists to study largest volcanic eruption in history

Radio National Breakfast (Australian Broadcast Corporation) • October 9th, 2014

Mike Coffin

Jennifer Neale

Amelia Travers

Tomer Ketter

Andres Joshua (AJ) Reyes

Mark Heckman

Looking for Support?  Learn How to Apply Here.

ontong java catamaran

IMAGES

  1. Ontong Java 75 ft Polynesian Sailing Canoe!!

    ontong java catamaran

  2. ontong java

    ontong java catamaran

  3. Tehini Hans Klar

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  4. Hans Klaar

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  5. Hans Klaar on Building and Sailing the Polynesian Double Canoe Ontong

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  6. tackingoutrigger.com Hans Klaar

    ontong java catamaran

VIDEO

  1. Sailing Ontong Java 1

  2. Drawing the Ontong Java Plateau and Manihiki Plateau on Google Earth

  3. Ontong Java

  4. New to me Catamaran back in Australia 🦘

  5. Ontong Java

  6. Drying fish at Pelau, Ontong Java Atoll

COMMENTS

  1. Ontong Java: sailing with the last of pirates

    " The Ontong-Java catamaran has sailed four times around the world. The crew. Imagine the 'raft' I've described (with the imagination and the pictures in the article) and add three girls aged between 20 and 26 from Spain, Mexico and England who live on it, travelling the world.

  2. tackingoutrigger.com Hans Klaar

    A near identical version of Ontong Java being built early 2013 and called Ontong Java (2). It seems Hans was very happy with Ontong Java so he has built a new similar boat. The first Ontong Java was sold in New Zealand around 2012 , it had a first refit in 2012 and a second more extensive refit in 2020 and now goes by the name Mareva

  3. ontong java

    hans klaar building and sailing ontong java

  4. Ontong Java II

    This is a time-lapse video of a wooden catamaran ship being built by Hans Klaar in Gambia, West Africa, 2012video by jcaprani

  5. Ontong Java II by Hans Klaar

    Not sure this was meant, it's not an interview with Hans, but this is by Webb Chiles when he spotted Ontong Java... on May 6, 2010 ... I'm not sure how building a traditional catamaran helps him at all, esp since his last cat was built extra large specifically so he would have more cargo space. According to his interview with Webb Chiles at ...

  6. Particularities of Ontong Java's catamaran (?) of Hans Klaar

    My boat is currently "locked-down" in the boatyard due to coronavirus. (UK). After a lousy wet winter, when working outside was impossible, now the weather has improved, we can't get to our boats. So it's nice to look at videos of them sailing... Hello. Ontong Java certainly is no a Wharram, but, James Wharram expressly welcome him and is ...

  7. Hanneke's Atlantic Adventures (Part 3)

    Aboard Ontong Java Ontong Java at sunset. On the 16th March I moved onto another boat. Largyalo was expecting a group of guests, who would be sailing on to St. Maarten. My new home for the next two weeks was Ontong Java. She had crossed the Atlantic a week after us and was moored off the beach in Port Louis, on the North West coast of Grand Terre.

  8. 25-year-old sailor Kiana Weltzien explores the seas in rebuilt catamaran

    Soon, she found herself living aboard his ship, the Ontong Java. "Here, I had an example of a wooden boat, built by hand and the sweat of one's brow," Weltzien recounted in a post on her blog ...

  9. Ontong Java

    Ontong Java - 75 ft Polynesian Sailing Canoe. by admin in Latest Classic Yacht News on October 11, 2021. The Video Rambler - The amazing Ontong Java visited Rat Island in the Tagus estuary!! Such an iconic vessel right on my playground! Edgar sailed by the day before and told me Ontong Java was there and of course I had to go and check it out!!

  10. Ontong Java 75 ft Polynesian Sailing Canoe!!

    The amazing Ontong Java visited Rat Island in the Tagus estuary!! Such an iconic vessel right on my playground! Edgar sailed by the day before and told me On...

  11. The Mysteries of Ontong Java

    The Ontong Java Plateau is a massive, submerged seafloor platform north of the Solomon Islands that is slightly larger than Alaska. The largest volcanic eruption in the planet's history likely formed the plateau, but just what caused that strange disgorgement remains a mystery. During October, Falkor took an international team to the region ...

  12. Ontong Java Plateau

    The Ontong Java Plateau (OJP) is a massive oceanic plateau located in the southwestern Pacific Ocean, north of the Solomon Islands.The OJP was formed around (Ma), with a much smaller volcanic event around 90 Ma. Two other southwestern Pacific plateaus, Manihiki and Hikurangi, now separated from the OJP by Cretaceous oceanic basins, are of similar age and composition and probably formed as a ...

  13. Who is Hans Klaar?

    He then spent time in West Africa, designing and building the Ontong Java, a 70ft-plus asymmetrical Polynesian-style catamaran with large storage holds and the same unusual crab-claw rig. He ...

  14. Dragon Sails To New Zealand

    After stops in Tonga and Fiji we arrived in the bay of islands, New Zealand at the end of November 2009. Moored off an islet in Raiatea. Whilst in Papeete we met up with Hans Klaar on Ontong Java and John Jamieson on Taraipo (his well-travelled Tangaroa). We were joined by a French family sailing a Pahi 42.

  15. Ontong Java Atoll

    Description. Administratively Ontong Java belongs to Solomon Islands.As an outlying part of Malaita Province, it forms the northernmost tract of land of this state, over 250 km (160 mi) north of Santa Isabel Island.The closest land, however, is Nukumanu Atoll, which lies only 38 km (24 mi) due north of Ontong Java's northern tip and, though historically closely related to Ontong Java, is now ...

  16. Wharram Catamaran

    Ontong Java came to visit my waters, and Hitia 14 crossed with him. when I returned home, we had to stopover on a small island, and there was also Hans with Ontong Java, He was very nice to me and... Wharram Catamaran | Ontong Java came to visit my waters,

  17. Ontong-Java leaving Praia Vitória Terceira Azores

    Ontong - Java Polynesian canoe, built on Africa, owners name called Hans

  18. Sinking reality

    Sinking reality Beni Knight, Scott Leckie 09/23/2015 September 23, 2015. An exclusive photo essay tells the story of Ontong Java, a string of remote Pacific islands at the mercy of climate change.

  19. Official James Wharram Designs on Instagram: "'Ontong Java is like the

    250 likes, 15 comments - wharramcatamarans on November 24, 2023: "'Ontong Java is like the wooden ships that still sail in Indonesia, which James and I had studied..." Official James Wharram Designs on Instagram: "'Ontong Java is like the wooden ships that still sail in Indonesia, which James and I had studied.

  20. Hitchhiking Sailboats Across The Atlantic [Part 1]

    Little adventure of me hitchhiking sailboats across the Atlantic. In this first part, I crew on a 75ft hand-built hardwood catamaran. Starting from Portugal,...

  21. The Ontong Java Plateau

    The Alaska-size Ontong Java Plateau (OJP) in the southwest Pacific is the largest of the world's large igneous provinces and formed entirely in an oceanic environment. Limited sampling of the upper levels of basaltic basement reveals strongly bimodal ages of122 Ma and 90 Ma. Geochemical signatures indicate two isotopically distinct, ocean-island-like mantle-source types for the 122 Ma basalts ...