Hōkūleʻa Update | December 5-8, 2016

Posted on 14 Dec 2016
In Education, Newsletter, Photo Galleries, Teachers, Updates

After arriving in Miami, crewmembers prepare Hōkūle‘a for departure on Leg 26 from Miami to Panama. Crewmember Kaipo Kīʻaha faithfully documents the crew’s work, the weather and more.

Day 25 & 26: December 5 & 6

We started off Monday, December 5, by lowering the main spar and boom and retying on the upper halyards, because a part of the line was chafed. Keeping all our lines in working shape is a top priority on the canoe.

After that, we unloaded the dinghy, which has been dubbed the “Lamona Cruza” after Uncle Lamona Shintani the dinghy driver for Leg 25. The motor and dinghy were hauled out with a crane and we cleaned it off and deflated it so it can be shipped home on the container.

The next day, Tuesday, December 5, we spent cleaning the canoe, specifically the insides of the hulls under the hatch covers and the wet decks.

Moani, Shantell, and Tamiko completed the bulk of the food and supplies shopping. We were generously given a room to use by Shake-A-Leg Marina to stage all our food boxes and have a space to pack everything in.

Day 27 & 28: December 7 & 8

Wednesday, December 7 was spent organizing and packing our food supplies and putting them in the green boxes, organizing them by day. We unloaded the gear from the escort boat as well to prep to load onto the container. We were visited by Jim, who is a paraplegic with a prosthetic leg, and he shared his story with the crew. In the evening, we walked into the town at Coconut Grove and Captain Kalepa took some of us to a French restaurant.

Thursday, December 8, was a busy day with canoe tours and loading work. The beginning of the day started with the arrival of a Matson container, inside which we loaded some of the gear from the canoe and the escort boat to be shipped back home.

After that, some students in the Shake-A-Leg Miami program toured Hōkūle‘a. These special needs kids are able to experience the water through various marine programs that Shake-A-Leg offers for them, so they were excited to be on board our voyaging canoe. Our crewmembers were even able to lift some of the kids who had wheelchairs on board so they could see everything too.

The last task of the day was loading the food and water in the hulls. Right as we were finishing up it started raining, so we scrubbed the deck, and then took shelter under our awning where Wayne and Keala cooked us some warm spaghetti.

It’s supposed to rain off and on tonight and then as the cold front passes by the temperature will drop because of winds out of the north.