IMG_5999

Hōkūleʻa Update | March 16, 2016

Aloha, ʻo Noelani Kamalu kēia, coming to you from the deck of Hōkūleʻa on Leg 18 of the Worldwide Voyage. Today is March 16th. We’ve been towing for four days trying to make our way to Cuba in the next couple of days to meet up with a group who have set up a series of events for us to interact with the Cuban people. In the meantime, we’ve been very busy and well fed. We woke up and practiced our protocol this morning. We also get into an exercise circle and tried to get our heart rates up for a little bit. So we are enjoying life and getting to know each other better. Please keep tracking us at Hokulea.com.

More than Adventure

Beyond a daring expedition, the Worldwide Voyage is quite possibly the most important mission that Hawaiʻi has ever attempted. As people of Oceania, we are leading a campaign that gives voice to our ocean and planet by highlighting innovative solutions practiced by cultures around the planet.

We could not have begun this great journey without your support, nor can we continue to its completion.

Continue Reading
image1

Crew Blog | Mark Ellis: Leg 19 (Florida to Virginia) Crew Planning and Preparation

Preparation and planning for a voyage has always been key. Under the leadership of pwo navigator Bruce Blankenfeld, crew members of Leg 19 of the Worldwide Voyage have been actively preparing to take Hōkūle’a into the Intercoastal Waterway (ICW) an inland waterway along the Atlantic coast of the continental United States, which includes natural inlets, saltwater rivers, bays and sounds and artificial canals.

image1

Captain Bruce shared with the crew the plan for taking Hōkūle’a and crew safely thru the ICW. Sailing on the ICW will be a little different for Hōkūle’a, among other things we will only traverse the waterway during daylight hours, thus we will be docking or anchoring nightly. As a result Captain Bruce has stressed the importance of knots, line handling and overall good seamanship. During a recent crew training session, crew members practiced throwing line to simulate getting Hōkūle’aʻs line to our escort vessel or docks. We also worked on securing our vessels to various anchor points (cleats, rings, etc.).

One of the scheduled stops for this Leg of the Voyage is Charleston, South Carolina. Hōkūle’a and crew members will participate and present at the Charleston Outdoor Fest https://www.ccprc.com/1542/Charleston-Outdoor-Fest (April 15-17, 2016) hosted by the Charleston County Park & Recreation Commission. The Charleston Outdoor Fest is an annual event for people of all ages to come together to learn and share their knowledge of nature’s playground.

image2

During this Leg of the voyage, Hōkūle’a and her crew will sail along the coasts of Florida, Georgia, South Carolina, North Carolina and Virginia. Please continue to follow us on hokulea.com as we share stories from the deck of the canoe, and communities we visit along the way up the East Coast!

Aloha,
Mark Ellis

More than Adventure

Beyond a daring expedition, the Worldwide Voyage is quite possibly the most important mission that Hawaiʻi has ever attempted. As people of Oceania, we are leading a campaign that gives voice to our ocean and planet by highlighting innovative solutions practiced by cultures around the planet.

We could not have begun this great journey without your support, nor can we continue to its completion.

Continue Reading
Ke kai mālie

Hōkūleʻa Update | March 15, 2016

Aloha mai kākou, this is crewmember Todd Yamashita on board Hōkūleʻa for Leg 18 sailing towards Cuba. We actually had our first sighting of Cuba last night, and are currently sailing off to the northeast corner. As you can tell, winds are pretty light today and we continue under tow thanks to our escort vessel Gershon II. Currently, we’re in a narrow shipping lane with shallow water to the north. So we’re seeing a lot of traffic, including freighters, cruise ships, and unfortunately we’ve also seen a lot of trash. There’s been a fair number of plastics floating in the water. So that was a little bit of a bummer. Some highlights for today, besides sighting Cuba, we woke up to a fresh mahimahi loco mocos cooked by our chef Eric Co. Our crewmember, Poita also made dried mahimahi, which is totally awesome. I just wanted to say a quick aloha to my wife and kids back on Molokai and until next, please continue checking us out on Hokulea.com. Aloha!

More than Adventure

Beyond a daring expedition, the Worldwide Voyage is quite possibly the most important mission that Hawaiʻi has ever attempted. As people of Oceania, we are leading a campaign that gives voice to our ocean and planet by highlighting innovative solutions practiced by cultures around the planet.

We could not have begun this great journey without your support, nor can we continue to its completion.

Continue Reading
Rainbows follow Hōkūleʻa wherever she goes

Hōkūleʻa Update | March 14, 2016

Aloha, this is Kālepa Baybayan on board Hawaiʻi’s iconic voyaging canoe Hōkūleʻa. As you can see, we’re experiencing diminishing winds probably between 5-10 knots now. So although we hate to do it, we need to maintain our schedule if we expect to get into Cuba by Friday. So we deployed our green and while polypropylene, and we’re being yanked along the ocean at 6.5 knots. We are about 600 miles from Havana, Cuba, and we expect to be there by Friday. So again we have a very tight schedule, probably arrive there on the 18th of March and depart for Key West, Florida on the 22nd of March with arrival expected on March 23. And from there, depart for Ft. Myers, Florida on the 24th of March. So we are holding a course of ʻĀina Hoʻolua on our star compass, which is West North West and it’s actually very pleasant conditions for a comfortable tow. So that’s all for now from Hōkūleʻa’s deck, and you can follow us at Hokulea.com. A hui hou!

More than Adventure

Beyond a daring expedition, the Worldwide Voyage is quite possibly the most important mission that Hawaiʻi has ever attempted. As people of Oceania, we are leading a campaign that gives voice to our ocean and planet by highlighting innovative solutions practiced by cultures around the planet.

We could not have begun this great journey without your support, nor can we continue to its completion.

Continue Reading
Daybreak

Crew Blog | Eric Co: Hōkūleʻa’s Magic

Sailing Hōkūle‘a is an intensely emotional experience.  It is humbling to be with her, knowing what she means to people back home in Hawaiʻi, and increasingly, people around the world, too.  It is an honor to be part of something so much greater than oneself; to have a turn on the leading edge of what comes next for her and her storied history.  One of our watch captains, Kamaki Worthington, put it best when he said that Hōkūle‘a’s first sail to Tahiti was one of the seminal moments of the Hawaiian Renaissance, the cultural revival of the Hawaiian people in the 1970’s.  It is a heady exercise to think about where we would be as a community, native Hawaiian or not, if she didn’t exist.  It is equally heady to think about where she’ll bring us next.

Being on board lends itself to this kind of mindset.  Maybe it’s a function of perspective so far from home.  Maybe it’s the whirlwind of senses that blur together from one incredible experience to another.  Maybe it’s the lack of sleep.  But whatever it is, it is most certainly heavy and at times overwhelming. While sailing, the sea around you is mirrored by an equally deep and vast sea of thoughts in your mind.

The good thing, at least, is that you’re not left trying to navigate this sea of thoughts alone. All of the crew are searching their own naʻau too, and sooner or later emotional introspection turns to expression with those around you.  The result being that an intense bond is forged with your fellow crew members.

You may arrive as good friends, sometimes perfect strangers, but you go home family.

In my experience from past legs, this is often an organic process.  With little privacy on the canoe, and with the basic human need to share incredible experiences with others, it is inevitable.  Two night before we left our other watch captain, Kawika Crivello, decided to jump start the bonding when he had us sit down and share about ourselves.  One by one, we all took as much as time as we needed to share our history, our lives, our families, and our intentions while sailing on this leg of the voyage.  The night went late, and it was truly awesome to see into others and understand who they are and what led up to being with them in this time and place.  It is uplifting to see the best in people being expressed through this kind of opportunity as part of Mālama Honua.

I learned that we all come from different places, both in terms of geography and perspective. But we all share a love for Hawaii, a love for Hōkūle‘a, and the sense of urgency to do what we can to make our islands and Island Earth better for our children and future generations. For me, it is this coming together of different people, perspectives, and stories around a common cause to better each other and our home—like the woven strands of rope that lash Hōkūle‘a together—that is critically important to enacting comprehensive solutions to our shared problems across the globe.

Sailing on Hōkūle‘a is a magical experience.  But I think her true magic is the incredible people she brings together, time and again.

More than Adventure

Beyond a daring expedition, the Worldwide Voyage is quite possibly the most important mission that Hawaiʻi has ever attempted. As people of Oceania, we are leading a campaign that gives voice to our ocean and planet by highlighting innovative solutions practiced by cultures around the planet.

We could not have begun this great journey without your support, nor can we continue to its completion.

Continue Reading
Austin, Shawn and Kawika

Hōkūleʻa Update | March 13, 2016

Aloha mai kākou, i lā pule maika’i from the crew on Leg 18. We quickly settled into a fairly smooth pattern of watch shifts and time has flown by since leaving Saba Rock three days ago. For the first two days, the crew split into two six hour watches, 6-12 and 12-6. We had perfect sailing weather with the wind and waves at our back,. For awhile, we had the head sail and three stay sails up and were making some good time, consistently going between 7 and 8 knots. The nights have been beautiful and clear, with plenty of stars to sail by. The crew is light-hearted and joyful, everyone feels so blessed to be here together aboard the Hōkūleʻa en route to Cuba.

Mealtimes are bonding moments, which is a good thing because we spend a lot of time preparing meals and cleaning up afterwards. Our two cooks are amazing, whipping out curry chicken last night with local dry land kalo that we were gifted from Aragorn’s organic farm back in Tortola. A favorite lunch was the tuna and rice nori wraps, yummy! Tomorrow morning we are having chocolate, coconut, banana, oatmeal pancakes, how awesome does that sound?! We are all working to eat healthy, with fruits and veggies, but everyone gets really excited about cookie time after our meals.

During meal prep and afterwards, the rest of the crew helps the cooks and there is no hesitation about jumping in to clean the dishes afterwards. Dishes are washed with two buckets of saltwater, one with a bit of dish soap and then a quick rinse with clean saltwater. The metal silverware, pots and pans get an extra dose of fresh water to prevent rust.

We’ve seen some beautiful marine animals, yesterday a couple of what might have been pilot whales stayed alongside us for awhile. It even went under the canoe a couple of times. Today a humpback waved its huge pink flipper at us four or five times from about 100 yards away.

A pod of dolphins skipped across the sea next to Hoku just before noon. A twenty pound mahimahi ended up on our fishing line shortly afterwards. We will be eating that in the morning.

A funny moment happened on the first night when a noio bird landed on one of our crew’s head. “Do guys see a bird on my head?” he asked. We took that for a good ho’ailona.

Right now the Dominican Republic is off to our left about fifteen miles away. We should be nearing the eastern tip of Cuba around Tuesday morning. We will then sail alongside the island until reaching Habana. We are all looking forward to connecting with the poe of Cuba. Coming from Hawaii and Tahiti, this crew knows how important it is when malihini to our islands make an effort to use phrases and words spoken in the language of our pae ʻāina. To show our respect for Cuba, we are starting to work on Spanish language basics, like buenos dias, buenas tardes, and buenas noches – good morning, good afternoon, and good evening. Les mandamos muchas saludos y besos a todas nuestras families que nos esperan en Hawaii! Hasta entonces, que les vaya muy bien We send greetings and kisses to all of our families waiting at home, until then we pray all is well.

More than Adventure

Beyond a daring expedition, the Worldwide Voyage is quite possibly the most important mission that Hawaiʻi has ever attempted. As people of Oceania, we are leading a campaign that gives voice to our ocean and planet by highlighting innovative solutions practiced by cultures around the planet.

We could not have begun this great journey without your support, nor can we continue to its completion.

Continue Reading
Kawika and Shawn at sunrise

Hōkūleʻa Update | March 12, 2016

More than Adventure

Beyond a daring expedition, the Worldwide Voyage is quite possibly the most important mission that Hawaiʻi has ever attempted. As people of Oceania, we are leading a campaign that gives voice to our ocean and planet by highlighting innovative solutions practiced by cultures around the planet.

We could not have begun this great journey without your support, nor can we continue to its completion.

Continue Reading
Leaving the BVI

Hōkūleʻa Update | March 11, 2016

Hōkūleʻa is back on the ocean to set sail for Havana, Cuba. The vessel departed Saba Rock today at 9:00 a.m. local time (3:00 a.m. HST), after having spent seven days in the British Virgin Islands (BVI). The crew most recently engaged with Ocean Elder and Virgin Group founder Sir Richard Branson, and discussed ocean conservation efforts.

Pwo navigator Kālepa Baybayan is gearing up the crew to prepare for strong winds and brisk weather, the greatest challenges of this leg of the voyage. The trip is approximately 1,080 nautical miles from BVI to Havana, which could take the canoe about a week to reach Cuba.

“We are happy to be part of the pioneers as we begin to form this new partnership and relationship with Cuba,” said Baybayan. “We are very excited to have that opportunity to participate; part of that journey is learning about the indigenous people and culture of Cuba, both modern and old.”

From Cuba, Hokulea plans on routing her trip back to the US mainland, with an estimated arrival in Florida at the end of March. She is scheduled to arrive in New York City by June 8, 2016 to be part of the United Nations’ World Oceans Day.

Happy Birthday, Hōkūleʻa!

Help us celebrate Hōkūleʻa’s 41st birthday by becoming a member, or gifting membership to another!

On March 8, the iconic deep-sea voyaging canoe Hōkūleʻa celebrates her 41st birthday! Our master navigators use the stars, waves, wind, and birds to find their way, following in the wake of their ancestors. Hōkūleʻa has journeyed more than 150,000 miles over the past 41 years, and a new generation of navigators is sailing around the world to explore how people and communities are working to Mālama Honua – care for our Island Earth.  We need your support to keep us voyaging – please visit www.hokulea.com/donate/ to help.

Continue Reading