Leg 31 Navigation Updates

Day 3

24 hour nav update: May 19 6am to May 20 6am
Total distance travelled along reference course: 129 nmi, 12 mi of easting
(reference course starts at northern point of Tikehau at approx. 9am on May 19)

Average speed: Variable, between 5-6+ knots

Wind: Hikina, 15-20 knots, approaching 20+ in the squalls.

Heading: Nā Leo Koolau

Lee drift: half house

Swell: ʻĀina Koolau 6 ft, Hikina-Lā Malanai 4 ft

Course made: Haka-Nā Leo Koolau, so half a house of easting is made

Cloud coverage: less than 5% up until midnight. After midnight there were periods of 90-100% cloud coverage as we passed through multiple squalls. Venus, the moon, and the sun in the early morning were a blessing to be seen and were used to steer and double check our heading.

Day 5

24 hour nav update: May 21 6 am to May 22 6am

Total distance travelled along reference course: 407.5 nmi, 30 mi of easting
(reference course starts at northern point of Tikehau at approx. 9am on May 19)

Average speed: 5-7 knots

Wind: Lā Koolau-Hikina, 15-20 knots; by morning wind decreased to 12-15 knots. Wind-generated bubble streaks are becoming less visible. Wind direction was instead taken from the direction of the scallop texture on the water (wavelets).

Heading: Nā Leo Koʻolau

Lee drift: half house

Swell: ʻĀina-Noio Koʻolau 4 ft, Hikina-NE swell, which we think has been generated from a High in the NE has been a really helpful steering swell during the daytime. The east swell is slightly smaller but still present (3 ft).

Course made: Haka-Nā Leo Koʻolau, so half a house of easting was made throughout the 12 hour period (approx. 6 mi easting)

Cloud coverage: nearly clear skies throughout the night made it a lot easier than the past couple of nights to steer by the stars. At sunrise: approx. 15% cumulus, 10% cirrus. Cirrus clouds are thin and wispy, extending from the W-E direction.

Uncle Bruce shared with us a little bit about the clouds this morning, and how you look at the direction of the upper cloud development and then the swells which will tell you about the intensity of the weather change.

Wildlife: About an hour after sunrise Kawai and Uncle Bruce hooked a 40 lb ahi. The crew is stoked. During the day we saw about 3 different or maybe the same manu o kū fishing at about 250-300 nmi out from Tikehau. This was surprising to us but we were reminded that it’s not the individual man u oku that we look for, it’s the flocks or groups of manu that we should watch. We also saw a koaʻe kea checking out our lures, and a few boobies.

Day 6

24 hour nav update: May 22 6am to May 23 6am

Total distance travelled along reference course: 544.5 nmi, 39 mi of easting
(reference course starts at northern point of Tikehau at approx. 9am on May 19)

Average speed- variable due to slowing and changing speed for multiple squalls. On average, speed was 6 knots with a few hours of boosting speeds at 6.5-7 knots

Wind: Lā Koʻolau-Hikina, 15 knots. At sunrise the faint trails of bubbles and scallop shapes at the surface of the water were used to indicate the direction of the wind. It was a little more difficult than other days because the winds seemed to be fighting winds, making the surface of the water look like an agitated or prickly heʻe (Uncle Bruce’s description). The wind has switched slightly north from last night and yesterday.

Heading: Nā Leo-Koolau

Lee drift: half house

Swell: NE swell is still present but it appears to have dropped slightly in height — ʻĀina-Koʻolau 6 ft., Hikina secondary swell maybe 3 ft in height and more related to the wind.

Course made: Nā Leo Koʻolau, so a consistent half a house of easting is made.

We continue to see upper level cirrus clouds and lower level cumulus clouds. Cloud coverage has been minimal, about 30% max. Last night the sky was clear with 5-10% cloud coverage, a blessing for the navigators and steersman. This morning, cloud coverage was largely limited to the horizon and the upper level E to SW quadrants. Pōmai describes the cirrus clouds as wispy bird wings.

Wildlife: Shortly after the light had emptied from the sky at sunset, we were joined by a pod of naiʻa. As the naiʻa swam in between the manu, their paths were illuminated by phosphorescence. It was a magical moment!

Day 7

24 hour nav update: May 23 6am to May 24 6am

Total distance traveled along reference course: 677 nmi, 36 mi of easting
(reference course starts at northern point of Tikehau at approx. 9am on May 19)

Average speed- variable, about 6 knots throughout the day. The wind eased during the night, coupled with multiple squalls, decreasing average speed to 4 knots (3-5 knot range).

Wind: Lā Koʻolau-Hikina, 12 knots. Yesterday morning after sunrise, the fighting winds eased and switched more Hikina allowing for a Nā Leo heading to be steered (Haka-Nā Leo course made). Before sunset and throughout the night, a Haka course was steered.

Heading: Nā Leo Koʻolau prior to 6 pm, Haka Koʻolau after 6 pm

Lee drift: half house

Swell: NE, ʻĀina Koʻolau swell decreased to 3-4 ft this morning. Through the squalls, the roll of the canoe from the NE swell was used to tell us if we steered to far down. Minor SE swell is visible.

Course made: Nā Leo/Haka Koʻolau prior to 6 pm, Haka Koʻolau/ʻĀkau made after 6 pm.

Clouds: 60% cloud coverage after sunset. Initially only the western horizon was visible, allowing us to steer by setting stars. Later the eastern horizon opened and Manaiakalani and Pimoe were used to steer. 10 pm-1 am, 100% cloud coverage and multiple squalls. The sky opened up again but was patchy as Leo’s tail set, followed by Jupiter and Virgo.

Wildlife: A pod of dolphins again joined us after sunset. We hooked up but lost a good-sized marlin.

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Happy to See Venus

Blog by Nāʻālehu Anthony

It’s interesting to me how the human body works. Every morning for the last three days I get up minutes before my 2 am watch. I lie there in the starboard 4 bunk listening to the voices on the watch to get a sense of what time it is. Wide awake, I stay in the bunk getting as much rest as I can before the long day ahead. It only takes a couple of minutes for the call from outside the canvas, “Lehu, time for your watch.” I don’t know how the body readjusts to the insanely early call time but it does. The first thing I do is listen some more to get a sense of the conditions outside. I can hear the water rushing by. I know we have speed on our floating island. I stick my foot out of the canvas to see if it’s raining. It isn’t but I know the wind is still blowing pretty hard to be going this fast.

Coming up on watch in the dark can be pretty intense. It’s like waking up in the middle of driving a racecar. Especially tonight. The moon is barely visible and so there is really no light on deck. Almost every star is shrouded in darkness of the deep plum clouds that persist all around us. Basically blind, our other senses take over. First, I need to shake off the tired so that I can get stable enough to stand as the deck pitches on two different axis as the waves fight for dominance in a couple of different directions. Next, I have to get a sense of how fast we are going and in what direction we are heading. At this point in my voyaging career I can guess pretty well as to the wind speed and canoe speed just by the feeling on my skin and the sounds that Hōkūleʻa makes. We’re moving quickly (for a canoe anyway) at 7 kts, plus a little more on the gusts of wind that boost us forward.

But unlike maintaining balance and estimating speed, direction takes a bit of doing. The navigation team has to take into account all the deviations that we make in steering so we all try our best to hold a really good and accurate line. Without any visual cues like planets or stars, we’re steering by the wind in the dark night. Mahina the moon glows through the clouds intermittently, but in between, no other stars are available. The telltales we attached to the rigging show us wind direction. Barely visible, we watch the wind and hug the canoe tight to what the wind will let us sail as we go through the night.

Slowly, patches of blue can be seen against the grainy black gray and sky. Below the moon glow, we can see that there’s another bit of light. Venus finally shows herself, right where we anticipated she would be if we are on the right course. The two navigators on the deck literally cheer when Venus appears. The dawn light follows not far behind, which then gives way to the sun, as the new day begins. We are all happy to see Venus.

Hōkūle‘a Homecoming:
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Join thousands of supporters and fans to welcome Hōkūleʻa home to Hawaiʻi in June 2017! Register now for the Mālama Honua Summit, reserve your tour aboard Hōkūleʻa, and RSVP for the Polynesian Voyaging Society benefit dinner.