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August 11: In Kāneʻohe Bay: the Science of Mālama Honua

In preparation for the Worldwide Voyage, crew members are learning the science of Mālama Honua, Taking Care of the Earth. At Waikalua Fishpond, they learned a technique known as girdling (removing bark in a ring) to kill off the invasive mangroves growing around the pond.

 Clyde Tamaru showing the Hōkūle’a crew how to girdle a mangrove tree. (Click on the caption to watch the video. Quicktime plug-in needed.)

Click on a photo to enlarge it and access a slide show.

From crew member Maggie Pulver:

The crew also practiced laying and towing plankton nets in Kāneʻohe Bay with the help of marine biologists from UH Mānoa and the Kewalo Marine lab.

After deploying the nets off the back of the canoe we towed them in the water for about 10 minutes, unsure if the time was too long, too short, or just right.  Once we hauled them out, turned out the time was too long…we had way more little creatures than our collection bucket could hold!

With our naked eye, we could see fish, crab and shrimp larvae (babies), as well as other planktonic organisms! There were all sorts of colors, shapes and sizes. It was so cool…

BUT…then the scientists took it to a whole new level when they busted out the UC Berkley Fletcher Lab Cellscope, a new portable microscopic imaging device that you can connect directly to an iPhone! It allowed us to view the organisms at a 20x magnification directly on the iPhone screen, as well as take pictures and live video! Technology is so amazing…

As a teacher, I really see the potential benefits of using these types of techniques and tools with my students.  They are so simple and interactive (not to mention fun!!), and allow kids to access the microscopic world with tools they already use in their everyday lives.  And even though we are using it to explore the ocean, the possibilities are endless.

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August 9: Training Sails before September Drydock

With Hōkūle‘a back home at the Marine Education and Training Center (METC) on Sand Island, crew members began training in Māmala Bay, off Honolulu, this week. They practiced handling the crab-claw sail rig safely.

Crab claw rig. (Click on any image to make it larger and activate the slide show.)

Training sails on Aug. 7 and 8 were captained by Pwo Navigator Bruce Blankenfeld, assisted by watch captain Kaina Holomalia.

Bruce (middle) and Kaina (right) talking with the crew.

The crew on the escort catamaran Noa Noa tested its performance and its capacity to tow Hōkūle‘a. Noa Noa will serve as a training vessel when Hōkūle‘a goes into drydock in early September.


Escort Catamaran Noa Noa

This weekend (August 10-12), PVS leadership plans to sail around the east side of O’ahu to continue to test Hōkūle’a’s overall performance while training apprentice navigators in non-instrument wayfinding for deep sea voyages. Crew members will also perform daily safety drills while testing new devices for emergencies at sea.

August 7 Training Sail:

August 8  Training Sail:

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Archbishop Tutu Blesses Hōkūleʻa, Goes for a Sail

Nobel Peace Prize laureate Archbishop Desmond Tutu blessed the voyaging canoe Hōkūleʻa during a private ceremony at Honolulu Community College’s Marine Education and Training Center at Sand Island this morning.

Students from the charter school Kamaile Academy greeted Archbishop Tutu, his wife and close friends of theirs who live in Hawaiʻi, when they arrived at the Center at about 10:30am. Kamaile Academy is a Polynesian Voyaging Society (PVS) partner and some of its students are enrolled as candidates to try out as crewmembers for Hōkūleʻa’s upcoming worldwide voyage. The students and leaders from Hawaiʻi’s voyaging community attended the blessing.

Following the blessing, Archbishop Tutu, his wife and their friends, along with experienced crewmembers, sailed aboard Hōkūleʻa for a 40 minutes, in Māmala Bay, outside the Kalihi Channel.

“The Archbishop said that what he really wants to do is to just get a feel of the canoe, so we aren’t going to go far,” said PVS president Nainoa Thompson. “We are just completely honored that the Archbishop would grace the canoe, bless the canoe and be with us. As we consider sailing around the world, it’s very important for us to know that these kinds of leaders are caring of (Hawaiʻi’s) canoe. These are leaders whom we admire and for whom we have enormous respect for their lifetime of fighting for human rights and improving the condition of not just their home country but of the world (The Dalai Lama blessed Hōkūleʻa in April 2012). We are just honored that they would come, bless Hōkūleʻa for the worldwide voyage and honor us by letting us take them for a sail.”

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

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August 4: Ka Honua Momona

Hōkūle‘a is heading back home again to the Marine Education and Training Center at Sand island, where she left on her statewide sail on April 12. Scheduled arrival: August 4.

The following video reflects on one of the stops on her statewide voyage. The volunteer effort of Ka Honua Momona to bring two fishponds back to productivity and abundance (momona) on Moloka’i is symbolic of Hōkūle‘a mission for her Statewide Sail and her upcoming Worldwide Voyage.

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July 29: Hōkūle‘a back on O‘ahu

Hōkūle‘a departed Nāwiliwili Harbor on Kaua‘i on 28 July at 06:30 and arrived at Pōka’i Bay on O‘ahu at 22:00. During this leg, PVS tested an online GPS tracker for the upcoming Worldwide Voyage. The tracker can plot the canoe‘s course on a Google Map. (Click on the map to go to a Google tracking map, courtesy of Michael Shintani.)

Visit the Hōkūle‘a Crew Facebook page for photos of activities in Wai‘anae.

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July 26: A gathering of Kaua’i educators

For Hōkūle‘a’s visit to Kaua‘i,  PVS hosted a gathering of educators to learn about the great work that classroom and informal educators are doing to inspire their students and communities to mālama honua – care for the earth.

On board Hōkūle’a, Steve Soltysik shared his message in a bottle lesson where his students learn about currents  and marine debris while connecting with people all over the world.

We ended the day at Kaua‘i Community College at Dennis Chun’s Hawaiian Studies classroom where we asked educators about their ideas and suggestions for engaging their students and communities with the Worldwide Voyage.

Mahalo to the Kaua’i crew members and educators for hosting us and for sharing your stories and helping to strengthen the education program for the Worldwide Voyage! (Click on photos for a larger image and slide show.)

Photos of Steve Soltysik’s voyaging activities:

“The students learn to work as a crew.  They assemble the small 8′ long double hulled canoe with the wood platform. Every student has a job, tying it together (lashing) only takes 10 minutes.  Just 2 hulls, one wood platform.  Then they work as a crew launching and taking turns riding on the floating canoe. Students usually make small waves, sink one hull, learn to take care of the canoe, bail it out, balance the canoe, and of course get wet. (Great fun on warm days.)  When we are done with the lesson, I have a very basic water safety activity, 3 students rescue 3 students at the opposite side of the pool. Reach with a pole, toss a line or use something that is buoyant.”

“The canvas star compass really helped the students understand basic cardinal points, wind directions, and drift patterns of marine debris.”

“Students also make their own “Message on a Wood Floater”  — small pieces of 2×4 wood that we branded, with the UH Hilo return address.  This is a project in cooperation with Dr. Hank Carson, Marine Science Dept.  UH Hilo,  to learn more about wind and currents around the islands.”

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July 22: Packing supplies for Hikianalia, Hōkūle‘a’s new sister canoe

Hikianalia – a new sister canoe for Hōkūle‘a – will be launched this year in Aotearoa (Auckland, New Zealand) and sailed to Hawai‘i to join Hōkūle‘a on her upcoming Worldwide Voyage as a support vessel and an additional educational platform.

The new voyaging wa‘a is being built by Dieter Paulmann, founder of Okeanos Foundation. Hikianalia is modeled after the vaka moana of Okeanos Foundation/Pacific Voyagers  that visited Hawai‘i in 2011.

Faafaite, a Pacific Voyagers canoe, Hilo Bay, 2011. © Danee Hazama

Packing for Hikianalia’s voyage from Aotearoa to Hawai’i this fall began this weekend at Honolulu Community College’s METC. Special mahalo to Matson, City Mill and Port Supply for supporting the effort to send all of the food and water for the voyage!


 Packing for the Hikianalia Voyage. Click on the photo for a larger image and a slide show.

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Funeral Services for PVS Educator Will Kyselka to be held on July 27

Aloha mai kākou,

Funeral services for PVS educator Will Kyselka (1921-2012)  will be held Friday, July 27, 2012, from 5:00 – 7:30 pm at the Church of the Crossroads, 1212 University Ave., Honolulu, Hawaiʻi 96826. Will’s family has invited the PVS voyaging ʻohana to attend.

Donations in Will’s name can be made. The funeral notice in the Star-Advertiser this Sunday, July 22, will identify which organizations to donate to, including the Polynesian Voyaging Society.

To learn more about Will Kyselka’s legacy and dedication to Polynesian Voyaging Society, see his bio at Hawaiian Voyaging Traditions, “Our Founders, Our Teachers.”

Will on Hawai‘iloa, at Kalaupapa, Moloka‘i
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