Flying the spinnaker as the wind gets calmer throughout the morning.

Hōkūleʻa Update | May 25, 2015

It is our third day en route to Brisbane, and it has been a day of calm, quiet seas. We have just passed a land mass of small, rolling hills known as Solitary Island, outside of Wooli Wooli River. We are 29 miles north of Coffs Harbour, our previous anchorage and now entering a previously unexplored part of the coastline. We took advantage of the calm weather to inventory all safety gear, sails, and other equipment on deck. We are already preparing for the crew change next week and hope to leave the canoe better than we found her, making the transfer of our specific responsibilities to the incoming crew as seamless as possible.

Sunset stretches into infinite time out at sea. As the cumulus clouds take on diverse gradients of color to the East, and the sky shifts into a palette of color over distant mountains in the West, we start reading about the Quandamooka, the people we are traveling to visit in the Morton Bay and Stradbroke Island region. They have recently gained rights to their land and are operating under their own system of laws and caring for country. We are inspired to learn more from the Quandamooka people, as they have made giant strides that could inform efforts to reclaim indigenous land globally.

Please help keep us sailing for future generations. All contributions make a difference for our voyage. Mahalo nui loa!

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New World

Crew Blog | Moani Hemuli: A Whole New World

As many of you know, provisioning Hōkūleʻa and Hikianalia is no easy task: First, creating a balanced menu that crew members like and will eat, then sticking to a budget. With previous legs, these things seemed simple because we knew where we could get the items for our meals and what brands the crews liked better than others. But in Aotearoa, it was not as easy; there were no longer pounds and ounces; brands of food were unknown to us, let alone tasted; and descriptions like tomato sauce for ketchup and biscuits for cookies also caused confusion.

New World

To our rescue came Jason Witehira, owner/operator of New World Victoria Park, who was instrumental along with his managers in helping provision Hōkūleʻa and Hikianalia. They proved their extensive experience in provisioning vessels!

Helping Jason with this task was his dedicated staff Anita Cloete, Store Manager, and Anna-Mare Claassen, Service Deli Manager. They were a tremendous help with the menu that our PVS logistics team created. Anita and Anna-Mare converted our ounces into grams, gave us tips on making some dishes more flavorful and suggested foods that we didn’t normally have on the waʻa. After meeting in person just three times and numerous e-mails, the menu for both Hikianalia and Hōkūleʻa were supplemented and converted.

Three days after arriving in Aotearoa with a small packing crew, our food was ready for pick up. Four pallets of food, filling three vans, held all of our food, ready for packing. After getting it sorted and packed, I realized we had the easy part. The ladies at New World Victoria Park had done all the mind-boggling, teeth-pulling hard work.

The crew spent the afternoon going over items in the PVS Crew Safety Manual.

From the crew onboard Hikianalia going to Tahiti, and Hōkūleʻa going to Australia, we would like to send out the biggest mahalo to Jason, Anita and Anna-Mare for all their hard work to make sure we eat like kings without refrigeration while sailing to our designated ports. Mahalo, Mahalo, Mahalo!

— Moani Heimuli

Please help keep us sailing for future generations. All contributions make a difference for our voyage. Mahalo nui loa!

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Hikianalia Update | May 24, 2015

The Polynesian voyaging canoe Hikianalia is on a 2,400 mile journey from Aotearoa to Hawaiʻi. Crewmembers will be sending frequent updates so that educators and students can track her progress in conjunction with the Worldwide Voyage Tracking Map. 

Navigator: Cat Fuller
Time period: Sunset
Speed: 5 knots
Direction: Nāleo
Distance traveled along reference course: 179 nautical miles
Distance/ Direction from reference course: ½ mile East of Haka course. * Shift to Haka Koʻolau at 6pm hard to maintain Haka course. Using setting sun on beam, gives 2 house variation.
Estimated position (Lat./Long.): 13º South
Wind direction/ strength: ʻĀina Koʻolau at 15 knots
Dominant swell direction/ height: ʻĀina Koʻolau 4-5 feet
Other swells: Lā Koʻolau
Clouds: 20 % sky coverage. Type: Cumulus
Color of sky at sunrise/ sunset: Orange, yellow
Swell used: ʻĀina Koʻolau
Sun Dec./ House: 21ºN ʻĀina Koʻolau
Moon Dec./ House: 12ºN Lā Koʻolau
Moon phase: ʻOlekūkahi

Please help keep us sailing for future generations. All contributions make a difference for our voyage. Mahalo nui loa!

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Our sunset visitor.

Hōkūleʻa Update | May 24, 2015

It is our second day at sea on our journey from Sydney to Cleveland, a community southeast of Brisbane. As we sail up the east coast of Australia, we can see only hints of what lies beyond. Overlapping mountain ranges and sand dunes signal the mere edge of a continent more vast than we can imagine. Today we were blessed by a large group of bottlenose dolphins that surfed the waves with us for close to two hours. They were playful and curious, leaping from the ocean and bringing us much laughter and happiness! Some of our crew sat watching close to the manu near the bow of the canoe. The dolphins, just an arm’s reach away, were visibly twisting their bodies to roll up and look at us with their faces forever frozen in a smile. Dolphins are dear to Aboriginal people as they were one of the first animals with whom they could talk “head to head” or telepathically.

The sun graced us all day and we enjoyed fresh watermelon and taro kindly provided by the generous community of Sydney. They gave us beautiful gifts and bountiful food, and also, simply their mana. On our community sails and in prayer before departure, Captain Bruce reminded everyone just how much their presence adds to the mana of the canoe. Just a kind word is a blessing he said, and we are so grateful for the people of Sydney, the mana of whom travels with us, and forever in the canoe. By late afternoon, we steered further off the coast to avoid shallow shoals. As the sun descended, the winds died down significantly and we picked up tow to continue on our way towards Brisbane. We continue to strengthen as a crew, always improving our communication, moving towards the seamless ease of migratory birds, who seem to move in unison and work together in an unspoken way.

Night descends and as the clouds part we are reminded that Australia is a land of sparse development, reflected in the vast sea of stars each night.

Please help keep us sailing for future generations. All contributions make a difference for our voyage. Mahalo nui loa!

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Leaving Sydney.

Hōkūleʻa Update | May 23, 2015

Duane DeSoto

Aloha kākou, this is Duane DeSoto here in beautiful Sydney Harbor. We are exiting from our brief stay here. As you can see behind us, the beautiful Sydney Opera House and Sydney Bridge. The Hōkūleʻa crew is looking forward to getting underway and heading to Brisbane.  We’ve managed to get up our sails successfully, and they are full of wind with beautiful sun today. It seems like a beautiful and fitting departure for us. We want to thank the community here that embraced us. We had a lot of our aboriginal ʻohana come and our Polynesian ʻohana come down here to embrace us with their aloha and give mana to this waʻa. We had a really warm farewell to us just now, and stay tuned on Hokulea.com for our journey to come and have a beautiful day. Aloha!

Joia Karen Holman

Aloha kākou, this is Joia Holman reporting from Hōkūleʻa as we make our way out of Sydney Harbor and on to Brisbane. We had such an inspiring and heartwarming time in Sydney. We were welcomed so warmly by the community and hosted by the Maritime Museum. We had opportunities for many members of the public come down and visit with the canoe. A young girl, when asked to make a peace flag, had the most beautiful message of “Love the Earth the way the Earth loves you,” which is so inspiring to us. This morning as we departed, the community gathered and an aboriginal man shared how the canoe brings him hope, which is very special. Upon our welcome, another aboriginal man spoke of how he left us with two colors, not black and white, but red and white, which is bone and blood and unites all people since we are one. We had the most wonderful time here. Our hālau from Hawaiʻi was also here to perform, and we’re just so grateful for our time in Sydney. Mahalo nui. We’re on our way to Brisbane now, and we’re looking forward to connecting with communities there. And we’re so grateful to be making our way there, and keep following us on Hokulea.com. Mahalo!

Kawika Crivello

Aloha from Hōkūleʻa. As you can see, we are leaving Sydney Harbor right now with good energy. We are heading to Brisbane, Australia for our next leg. We’ve had a wonderful week meeting people, sharing, and exchanging cultures and stories. As we head out to Brisbane, we leave with good spirits and hoping for good weather. The crew is happy and healthy and ready to continue our Worldwide Voyage of Mālama Honua. As we leave Sydney, we leave in good spirits and it’s kind of sad for us because of the relationships we’ve built. But we need to move on, and as we move on to Brisbane, we hope to meet other people and build relationships. A good example of that is Hōkūleʻa’s crewmembers, myself included, went to the Indigenous Center of Excellence and we engaged with aboriginal youth and adults at the youth center for a couple hours of boxing and activities. We sat down after and answered questions from them. They were very interested in what we were doing. There were hugs and smiles shared. There was some tears as our cultures are so alike and the struggles that we share are alike. So please follow us on Hokulea.com and mahalo for all your prayers, support, and blessings to the Hōkūleʻa crewmembers. We’d like to say mahalo and a hui hou.

Kai Hudgins

Aloha kakahiaka from Kai and the Hōkūleʻa crew making our way out of Sydney and about four days from Brisbane. It was an amazing thing to see such a huge city and to see the indigenous people keep true to what they believe in. Aloha to the ʻohana, to mama and the good news. Looking forward to a couple days of good sailing and maybe a little more. Aloha to all the elementary and intermediate schools keeping up with us, and we’ll see you in a few days. Aloha!

Matahi Tutuvae

Please help keep us sailing for future generations. All contributions make a difference for our voyage. Mahalo nui loa!

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Hikianalia Update | May 23, 2015

The Polynesian voyaging canoe Hikianalia is on a 2,400 mile journey from Aotearoa to Hawaiʻi. Crewmembers will be sending frequent updates so that educators and students can track her progress in conjunction with the Worldwide Voyage Tracking Map. 

Ia Orana,

We started our 48 hour solo navigation watches today with Austin leading off. We’re finally “out of the gate”. After a trying few days of reading and interpreting weather, we’ve made it to Tetiaroa, within sight of Mataiva at night, and out along the course line of our second leg from 15° South to 3° North. At Tetiaroa, we discovered that the forecast wind shift we had hoped for was late in coming, so we had to adjust course accordingly to maintain a northerly course. After sailing hard on the wind for 135 miles, we sighted the glow of Mataiva at night. It was lucky we saw the glow of Tetiaroa the night before, so we recognized that same glow almost immediately. Had we come through during the day, we would have missed the island altogether. We had originally planned to sail between Tikehau and Mataiva, but the winds just wouldn’t let us go east. After establishing our latitude at 15° South, we felt we could make our way towards home.

The navigation team agreed to all be up for the first two nights, in order to get ourselves on the same page. We’ve discovered the extent of each other’s knowledge as well as establishing who gets to sleep when and for how long. As of our departure from Mataiva, we are truly out of the gate in terms of decision-making. We establish speed, choose direction and maintain it through day and night. We’ve been lucky to have great weather and clear skies. This afternoon, our wind picked up, and we increased speed from a comfortable 3 knots to a “more like it” 6 knots. We’ve been visited by dolphins twice, noddy terns and a curious iwa bird who nearly stole a lure.

Throughout the night, we’ve been using a variety of starlines: Ke Ka o Makaliʻi, Manaiakalani and Ka Lupe a Kawelo. Rigel and Betelgeuse, Fomalhaut, Hōkūleʻa and Hikianalia, Na Kuhikuhi, Hanaiakamalama, are some of the stars we see. We are also using three planets, Venus, Jupiter and Saturn. After an early wake up call, we’ve been better at estimating time and getting the watches up for their shifts.

Personally, I am out of the gate, in the middle of one of the most challenging experiences I’ve ever had. My friends encourage me with “you can do it” and similar sentiments, but this is one daunting task.  It’s one of those things that you can’t understand until you’ve been there. I am learning so much as I go along from day to day and even hour to hour. Even with three apprentices, the kuleana of guiding our crew and waʻa home is a challenge. In the past three days, I’ve been more tired than I have ever been in my life, yet I need to push through. I think of the weeks ahead of us and wonder how I’m going to make it in one piece. Luckily, I’m not alone, and I am grateful to have a supportive and caring crew. No matter the challenge, we’ll make it together.

-Cat Fuller

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Navigation Report

Navigator: Austin Kino, start of 48 hour navigation watch
Time period: 11:30am – 6pm
Speed: 6 knots
Direction: Nāleo Koʻolau
Distance traveled along reference course: 39nm
Distance/ Direction from reference course: Deviating 1 house to east.
Estimated position: 15ºS, 16 nm West of Mataiva at 11:30am
Wind direction/ strength: Hikina 10-12 knots
Dominant swell direction/ height: Lā Koʻolau (short wave)
Other swells: Lā Kona (big wave)
Clouds: 36% sky coverage. Cumulus
Color of sky at sunrise/ sunset: Orange/ Yellow- sunset
Sea life observed: Iwa bird, Noddy tern
Sun Dec./ House: 21º ʻĀina Koʻolau
Moon Dec./ House: 12º Lā Koʻolau,
Notes: We started 30 nm west of Tikehau/ Mataiva channel

I think our estimated position at sunset (6pm) was 14º 20ʻ S, 148º W

Please help keep us sailing for future generations. All contributions make a difference for our voyage. Mahalo nui loa!

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Hōkūleʻa Update | May 21, 2015

Aloha, this is Ana Yarawamai. I am reporting from Darling Harbor in Sydney, Australia with Hōkūleʻa behind me wrapping up another day dockside along the Maritime Museum. We had a great day. It was beautiful weather, and we had a lot of people come through and check out our canoe along with our booths. We had the science experiments, and a couple peace flags. It was just really awesome to spread our message another day in beautiful Sydney. At the end of the day, we had a great mahalo sail in the harbor for all of our supporters from the American Embassy, the Maritime Museum, and it was awesome to be able to share our waʻa on an evening sail with them. Tomorrow we have another full day at the Maritime Museum. We have canoe tours from 10am-1pm and we will be wrapping up at the end of the day. It will be our last full day in Sydney as we are looking to leave Saturday morning around 10am, weather permitting of course. And we will be heading up north to Brisbane. Please follow us on Hokulea.com. Mahalo!

Please help keep us sailing for future generations. All contributions make a difference for our voyage. Mahalo nui loa!

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First Mate Hauʻoli Smith Gurtler

Hōkūleʻa Update | May 18, 2015

English

Aloha mai kākou, here we are again aboard the waʻa kaulua ʻo Hōkūleʻa, broadcasting out to you guys in your warm homes. Here we are kind in the chill of Australia in this cold water here. We are currently right outside Newcastle, a city in Australia after being in Coffs Harbor for about a week. We were delayed there because of the high winds. The high winds brought big seas and big waves that were closing out the harbor and preventing us from leaving. Fortunately that subsided and got a good window to come down and make our way south towards Sydney. Last night, it kind of rained all night, pouring rain until about 10 p.m.. Continuing now it’s still totally overcast but calm seas so we expect to be right outside Sydney this coming morning to make our way for the arrival ceremony for midday tomorrow. Next time we are broadcasting with you guys, we will maybe be with the native people from the Sydney area. Mahalo for continuing to follow us on our journey from Aotearoa to Nuhōlani nei, and talk to you guys later, aloha, a hui hou.

ʻŌlelo Hawaiʻi

Aloha mai kākou, eia nō mākou ma ka waʻa kaulua ʻo Hōkūleʻa a e like me ka mau, ke kamaʻilio nei iā ʻoukou, iā ʻoukou nō ma ka home pumehana ma Hawaiʻi lā paha. Eia nō mākou ke noho nei i ke anu o kēia ʻāina ʻo Nuhōlani. Eia nō mākou ma waho pono o New Castle, ʻo ia nō kekahi kaona ma ʻAukelekulia (ʻAukekulelia) nei. Ua haʻalele aku mākou iā Coffs, a ma hope o ka noho ʻana ma ia ʻāina ʻo Coffs no hoʻokahi pule, a eia nō mākou, ʻelua lā o ka holo ʻana mai Coffs mai a ma Coff- ma New Castle nō i kēia manawa. ʻApōpō e komo ana i loko o ke awa ʻo Sydney e hālāwai ana me nā kānaka ʻōiwi e kali ana iā mākou. ʻO ka minamina, ʻo ka mea i manaʻo ʻia ma mua, e noho ana- e pae ana i Sydney hoʻokahi pule aku nei me ka ʻae ʻana mai o nā akua e pae aku i laila, e pae ana nō i ka lā ʻapōpō. Eia nō ke holo nei, e holo lemu nei ʻoiai kokoke nō mākou i ia ʻāina a pae aku i laila, kamaʻilio me nā kānaka o laila, a hoʻokipa a kipa nō hoʻi i ka ʻōiwi o ia ʻāina a ʻo ia wale iho nō. Mahalo no ka hahai ʻana mai iā mākou ma kēia wahi huakaʻi. Ke kamaʻilio kākou iā mākou nō ma Sydney lā. He wahi leo aloha kēia iā ʻoukou e nā kānaka kūpaʻa i ke aloha ʻāina. Eia nō mākou, nā kānaka kūpaʻa i ke aloha kai, ʻo ia nō hoʻi ʻo ka Mālama Honua. Aloha, a hui hou!

Please help keep us sailing for future generations. All contributions make a difference for our voyage. Mahalo nui loa!

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