Ask the Crew | March 31, 2015
Ask the Crew | Ryan Hanohano: Where do you go to get out of the harsh weather?
Wow, it’s really cold out there, guys. My name is Ryan Hanohano and we’re here aboard Hikianalia here in Auckland, New Zealand, and today’s question is from Kenneth, from Wahiawa. This question is “being out in the weather constantly is very harsh. Do you get out of the weather in some sort of shelter to keep you dry and to sleep in a dry place, where is that shelter located?”
Well it’s funny that you should ask because right now, I’m sitting in the deck house of Hikianalia. When it’s cold and windy and rainy out there, sometimes we come inside here to get warm. As you can see, I have my foul weather gear on, and um, if sometimes we cannot be here, in the hale, we’ll go down inside the hulls where our bunks are so that we can have a rest. That’s what’s onboard Hikianalia, but on Hōkūleʻa, it’s not so easy. They have a tent-like canvas that goes over the railing from the moʻo or the gunnel of the canoe, and they can go inside the tent and try to get out of the weather that way. But it’s still a lot of water and wind that comes through that area. So we’re lucky to be here aboard Hikianalia where it’s a little bit dryer. Stay tuned until next time, follow us on Hokulea.com and do your part to mālama honua. Aloha!
Ask the Crew | Miki Tomita: How do people transfer between canoes at open sea?
Hi this is Miki Tomita, and I am an education specialist aboard Hōkūleʻa and Hikianalia, for the Aotearoa outreach leg. This question comes from Quinn at Innovations Public Charter School. His question is “how do people transfer between Hōkūleʻa and Hikianalia at open sea?”
That is an excellent question and actually, we hope that we don’t have to transfer crew, one of the things that we are prepared for though as we are trying to sail, is in case of emergency, we do have protocol in place, and are trained in how to transfer crew members, whether they become ill, or if we need a specialist to transfer from one canoe to the other. We do practice those drills, and just hope that we never have to use them. That’s one of the rules that we kind of like to live by which is to prepare for the worst and hope for the best. Although we do have the protocol in place, we haven’t had to use it on any of the legs that I’ve been on or any of the costal sails so I’m very very grateful for that. Thank you, Quinn for that really awesome question, please continue to follow us on Hokulea.com and share with us how you mālama honua in your community. Thank you!
Ask the Crew | Barbara Blake: What happens if you go off track or someone gets hurt?
Aloha, this is Barbara Blake calling you from New Zealand where we are staying at a beautiful marae. Today’s question comes from Sebastian at Punahou School Smart Surfers. He asks, “What happens when you are in harsh weather and crazy winds that you get off track or someone gets hurt?”
Well Sebastian, I want to let you know that safety is definitely our number one concern. Before we leave any port, before we even step foot on a waʻa, we go through multiple saftey trainings as crewmembers. Saftey is the number one concern of the captain, the navigator and the leadership who are involved with our sails. One thing that you always have to keep in mind is to remain calm, remain collective, and to think in the betterment of the crew. Loosing control and getting a little super excited in those circumstances doesn’t help anybody so you’ve gotta remain calm in those situations. I think that the crew and especially our leadership have prepared by planning ahead and putting a medic onboard any long distance journeys that we happen to undertake. So we always have a medic onboard who is there to assess the situation and to make the according call on anybody who gets hurt along the route. Speaking of routes, if we do happen to get off course, either the captain or the navigator will be able to tell that and will be able to correct it and will get on track and usually tell the steerersman which way to correct in those kinds of situations. Sabastian again, thank you for that question. Don’t forget to let us know how you mālama honua and follow us at Hokulea.com
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