Hōkūleʻa Update | May 2, 2015

English

Aloha kākou, ʻo wau iho nō ʻo Kaleo Manuiwa Wong. Here’s our nav update and report for today, beginning with last night. We started off last night. It was a beautiful night, no clouds in the sky. We could see all of our stars and planets that we’re using to guide our waʻa from Aotearoa to Australia. We got Venus, Jupiter, and Saturn. We’re also using Keliʻikonaikalewa, Aʻa, Hōkūleʻa, Hikianalia, and Newe. Those stars were clearly visible last night just after sunset, up until 10 o clock when all the clouds came in and we could no longer see any stars and no moon. Fortunately for us we have a pretty stable, steady wind that we’re able to use to guide Hōkūleʻa on our course. Same with the swells, we have a nice big south swell, southwest swell getting up to 10 to 15 feet. So we’re using those to guide us to continue along our path to get to Australia. Today more of the same. Just full clouds in the sky and it is hard to even see the sun, but again we got the same wind and the same swells to guide us on our course. We’re looking at maybe turning down to go more south to get closer to our pre-determined path that we’re going to take to go to Lord Howe in Australia. Right now we’re heading north because of the wind and the swells, but we’re looking to getting closer to our course starting tomorrow see what the wind tells us. A ʻo ia. Mahalo for following us on our voyage from Aotearoa to Australia. Please continue to follow us at www.hokulea.com. Mahalo. Aloha.

ʻŌlelo Hawaiʻi

Aloha ahiahi kākou, ʻo wau iho nō ʻo Kaleo Manuiwa Wong. Eia nō ka ʻōlelo hoʻolaha no kēia lā no ka holo ʻana o ka waʻa o mākou, ʻo kākou hoʻi, ʻo ia nō ʻo Hōkūleʻa mai iā Aotearoa a i ʻAukelekulia, i Nūhōlani nō hoʻi. I nehinei, i ka pō nei, ua keu nō o ka maikaʻi nā hōkū o ka lewa, hiki ke ʻike ʻia nā hōkū nunui ʻaʻohe ao i ka lewa. ʻIke ʻia nō nā hōkū ʻaeʻa ʻo ia hoʻi ʻo ka hōkū kau ahiahi ʻo Iau a ʻo Makulu nō hoʻi, pēlā pū ʻo Aʻa, Keliʻikonaikalewa, me Hōkūleʻa lāua ʻo Hikianalia a pēlā pū ʻo Newe. ʻO ia nō nā hōkū hoʻokele waʻa o mākou i kēia wahi huakaʻi. Eia naʻe, ma kahi o ka hola ʻumi, ua puni ka lewa i ke ao, ʻaʻole hiki ke ao, ʻaʻole hiki ke ʻike ʻia ka mahina, ʻaʻole hiki ke ʻike ʻia nā hōkū o ka lewa ma muli o ka nui o ke ao no laila u a holo nō ka waʻa me ka nānā ʻole ʻana nō i ka ʻale o ka moana. A pēlā nō kekahi i kēia lā. ʻAʻole hiki ke ʻike ʻia ka lā, puni wale nō ka lewa i ke ao. No laila, i ka mahiki aʻe o ka lā i kēia kakahiaka ua nānā wale aku i ke ʻale o ka moana a na ke ʻale nō e haʻi mai ana i hea lā e holo ana a pae pono i ʻAukelekulia. A ʻo ia. No ko mākou holo ʻana, inā nānā paha ʻoukou ma kā mākou ala e holo ʻana, ʻaʻole like paha me ka mea i hōʻike ʻia ma ke kamepiula no ka mea ua ʻano hoʻololiʻ ia ke ʻano o ka holo ʻana. E holo ʻana i ka ʻākau, ma hope huli ʻana i ka komohana. ʻAʻole  pēlā ka mea i manaʻo ʻia ma mua pono o ka haʻalele ʻana. Eia naʻe, ʻo ia nō ka holo ʻana o ka waʻa. Holo nō e like me ka hiki, e like me ka pā mai ʻana o ka makani a pēlā hoʻi o ke ʻale o ka moana. ʻO ia wale iho nō. Mahalo no ka hāhai ʻana mai iā mākou ma kēia wahi huakaʻi. Mau aku nō i ka nānā ʻana iāwww.hokulea.com. A he wahi ʻōlelo kēia iā ʻoe e kahi wahine wai lana o ka uka o Maunawili, aloha. 


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

Hōkūleʻa Update | May 1, 2015

Morning Navigation Update:

We passed North Cape, travelling north to go around Three Kings Islands; this is an updated reference course based on current weather conditions.  Our original course was Lā Hoʻolua but now we are travelling along a more northerly track to get up around some weather fronts approaching from the west off of Australia.  Winds are 15-20 mph and there is a big southwest swell, 10-15 feet that was wrapping around Aotearoa.  Overcast skies most of the night, 80% cloud cover, light rain intermittent, threatening squalls but most dissipated before reaching us.  We were visited by a pod of orcas on our port beam around 3am.  We spotted Three Kings Islands around dawn just before sunrise.

Evening Navigation Update: 

This morning we caught four aku that we ate for breakfast and dinner;  scrambled eggs and fried aku for breakfast and aku four ways for dinner: curry, fried, poisson cru, shoyu onion poke ☺.  We had a beautiful day of sailing.  Averaged about 5 kts throughout the day.  Blue skies, fair winds and following seas.  We are still continuing on our northerly track between Haka Hoʻolua and Akau.  We are running both crab claws with a Genoa up front and put up a drifter when the winds go light.  With one full day of sailing the crew are finding their sea legs, spirits are high, excited to be out on the ocean.


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 1, 2015

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


Time: 5/1 Sunset, Hua Moon
Course: Manu Koʻolau/ Northeast
Speed: 7-9 knots
Weather: Cloudy, winds slowly picked up overnight last night and today.
Sea State: Some white caps, a little bumpy, but no large ground swell.
Marine Life: Saw a few koʻaʻe ʻula this morning. Malolo can be found on the deck in the mornings after unfortunately flying onto the canoe. A mahimahi was chasing one of our fishing lures, but didnʻt bite. Another unidentified fish stole the whole lure just before dinner and we came up empty handed.

We are about 100 miles away from the island of Rurutu and will hopefully pass it sometime tomorrow morning. The crew continues to be in good spirits with possibly only a few more days of sailing.

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

Hikianalia Update | April 29, 2015

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


Time: Sunset, April 29, 2015  – Huna moon
Course: Between Lā Koʻolau and Hikina, trying to pinch a little south of Hikina
Wind: Dead wind until 4:30pm then 8-12 knots
Speed: 4-7 knots, and we have 5 sails up
Weather: Throughout the day clear skies, not a cloud above us. No high clouds in sight. There was a line of clouds directly in front of us all day to the east that we finally reached after sunset.
Sea state: Itʻs a lake, and it looks very inviting.
Marine life: None; nobody like say hi.

The weather has been the same for the last four days calm; barely any to no wind at all. But Iʻm glad the wind has found us, and weʻre moving again.

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

Hōkūleʻa Update | April 30, 2015

English

Aloha mai kākou. My name is Kaleo Manuiwa Wong, I’m a crewmember on board Hōkūleʻa on the voyage from Aotearoa (New Zealand) to Australia. We are coming on our first full day of sailing. We left Mangonui yesterday around lunchtime with a karakia from Uncle Hector Busby. He sent us off, and now we’re on our way. We have Aotearoa behind us still in the distance, Manawa Tawhi – the Three Kings – right off our side. Beautiful weather today. Last night were visited by a couple of orcas and this morning, we put our fishing lines for the first time and pulled up four aku that will be for breakfast and dinner. Continue to follow us on Hokulea.com and mahalo to everyone who continues to mālama honua and mālama ʻāina at home in Hawaiʻi, on a waʻa, or elsewhere in the world. Aloha!

ʻŌlelo Hawaiʻi

Aloha mai kākou ʻo wau iho nō ʻo Kaleo Manuiwa Wong. He wahi hoa hoʻokele kēia ma Hōkūleʻa ma ka huakaʻi hele mai iā Aotearoa a i Nūhōlani ʻo ia hoʻi ʻo ʻAukelekulia. Eia nō mākou ma ka lā ʻekahi. Ua haʻalele iā Aotearoa i nehinei. Eia nō ke hiki mai nei i kekahi lā holoʻokoʻa o ka holo ʻana. Ua haʻalele iā Aotearoa, hiki nō ke ʻike ʻia iā Manawatahi ma kaʻe o mākou. Aia lā ʻo Aotearoa ma hope o mākou. Ke holo nei i Lord Howe, kēlā wahi moku liʻiliʻi ʻo Lord Howe i kēia manawa. I ka pō nei ua hele mākou ma kahi ʻo, ma kahi ʻo 40 paha mile, 30 mile mai iā Aotearoa mai a noke aku mākou i ka holo. Kēia kakahiaka, ua lou ʻia he mau aku, ʻehā paha, ʻelima paha aku pau i ka lou ʻia. ʻO ia nō ka meaʻai no mākou i kēia ʻaina kakahiaka, pēlā pu nō hoʻi no ka ʻaina ahiahi i kēia ahiahi. I ka pō nei ua ʻike ʻia kekahi koholā ʻeleʻele, ʻano nui, ʻo ia hoʻi ka orca. Hele ma kaʻe o ka waʻa a iho i lalo a hōʻike i ka nani o ia wahi iʻa iā mākou a noke aku ʻo ia i ka holo. ʻO ia nō. He wahi mahalo kēia iā ʻoukou no nā kānaka kūpaʻa i ke aloha no ka ʻāina. Kū haʻaheo mākou iā ʻoukou. Noke mau i ke kūpaʻa ʻana i ke aloha no ka ʻāina, ka mālama honua nō hoʻi. Aloha.


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

Hōkūleʻa Sets Sail for Sydney

HONOLULU – The Hawaiian voyaging canoe Hōkūleʻa and her crewmembers have departed New Zealand today, leaving the Pacific Ocean for the first time in her 40-year history. The canoe’s master navigator will use traditional Polynesian navigation techniques to sail to Sydney, Australia and is expected to arrive in the first week of May. The journey is part of Hōkūleʻa’s 47,000 nautical-mile sail around the world to bring attention to the importance of protecting environmental and cultural treasures for future generations.

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“Australia is on our sail plan because of its incredible natural and cultural treasures, and our desire to explore a part of the world that is new to us,” said Polynesian Voyaging Society president and master navigator, Nainoa Thompson. “It is a place that we can relate to because of the potential of bringing together diverse sectors to care for our ocean. In Hawaiʻi, blending indigenous stewardship practices with other best practices can help us find positive ways forward, and we are seeking to learn from similar approaches in Australia so we can share that knowledge with other communities as we continue to voyage around the world.”

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The current Mālama Honua Worldwide Voyage, sponsored by Hawaiian Airlines, is a four-year voyage spanning 85 ports, 26 nations, and 12 of UNESCO’s Marine World Heritage sites. Mālama Honua means “to care for Island Earth” and a new generation of navigators is learning to use wayfinding not only to find islands, but to help find a sustainable future. Crewmembers are gathering and sharing information from all ports about positive solutions for environmental challenges such as ocean pollution, over fishing, climate change, and sea level rise. The Worldwide Voyage has covered 7,000 nautical miles and 24 Pacific Islands to date since its launch in 2013.

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Departure ceremonies in New Zealand guided by ancient Maori and Hawaiian cultural protocols helped to prepare the canoe and crew for safe travels into new horizons. Preparation for departure also centered on government and community-based declarations that Hōkūleʻa will take to the United Nations in New York in 2016.  Throughout the Pacific, ocean protection declarations and community-led commitments were given to Hōkūleʻa by the President of Palau, as Chair of the 16 member Pacific island forum, the President of French Polynesia, and the Governor of American Sāmoa.   Additional community-led commitments on board the historic voyaging canoe include the Hawaiʻi Promise to Paeʻāina, and an Indigenous Youth Declaration from the World Indigenous People’s Conference on Education.

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Hōkūleʻa’s captain for the Australia leg of the Mālama Honua Worldwide Voyage, master navigator Bruce Blankenfeld, will be presenting on traditional navigation and the Worldwide Voyage at the Australian Museum on May 20. After Sydney, Hōkūleʻa anticipates making stops in Brisbane, Townsville, Cairns, Thursday Island, and the Great Barrier Reef, weather and safety conditions permitting. The voyaging canoe will sail throughout Australia until late July, before continuing on to Indonesia, Madagascar, and South Africa at the end of 2015.


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

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Hikianalia Science Update | April 28, 2015

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


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This morning at sunrise we had a short visit by a pod of dolphins. Winds and swells have gotten much smaller over the last few days, lowering our hull speed and probably the reason the dolphins did not stay with us. A few days ago we caught two more female mahimahi. The smaller one (82 centimeters/32 inches) had two ballyhoo in her stomach, the larger one (109 cm./109 in.) had a variety of things in hers: two ballyhoo, one small pufferfish, one triggerfish (a different species than the beige ones we found before), and several other fish that were already so digested that we were not able to identify them. Additionally there was a long piece of green plastic in her stomach.

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Marine debris such as plastic are a big problem in the oceans today. Plastic degrades only very slowly by being broken down into smaller and smaller pieces. The smaller the pieces the more likely they get mistaken for food and eaten by animals such as birds and fish. The plastic then gets stuck in the animals organs, often taking up space in the stomach in place of real food. The stomach might become full of plastic preventing the bird or fish to eat anything else and eventually starve to death.

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We have been seeing several different species of birds throughout our voyage from Aotearoa. At the beginning, many mōlī (albatross) could be seen swooping in to check out our waʻa. Lately, a few birds associated with finding islands have been spotted, most notably koaʻe ʻula (red-tailed tropic bird) and Manu o Kū (white fairy tern).


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

Hōkūleʻa Update | April 28, 2015

Today we worked on the waʻa all day, pulling anchor, breaking down the canopy, sponging out our holds, and bending the mizzen crab claw. But we didn’t have enough time to raise it, which is probably for the best because weather changes quickly and we get gusts from time to time.

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Tonight we had a great dinner of chili, rice, and corned beef and Hokey Pokey ice cream for dessert.  Afterwards, we went around the circle and each person said a few words.  Papa Hector Busby said some nice stuff about how it feels weird when we say “thank you” because we are family; we are part of this place, we are a part of something that started 30 years ago. 

As we mahalo our ʻohana here in Aurere and Aotearoa for taking care of Hōkūleʻa and her crew, we are well prepared for our departure to Australia.


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

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