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Hōkūleʻa Update | June 04, 2017

Naalehu Anthony     Crew Blog by Nāʻālehu Anthony

Aloha kākou,

Today brought us good wind and diminishing seas. This morning we were at a total distance of 1944 nmi along our reference course line and 49.5 mi west of reference course. The latitude fix last night put us at about 15 degrees north latitude; that’s within a degree of the dead reckoning numbers that our team has been calculating. The conditions have shifted in a number of ways – most notably the swell has come down even further, and the wind has gotten colder but softer. Kanaloa blessed us again with a small Mahimahi that made for great curry ramen. It was the perfect end to another day on the ocean.

This date today marks many important happenings in the history of Hōkūleʻa. I was reminded in a quick email from Aunty Deb that today, June 4th, marks the one-year anniversary of Hōkūleʻa arriving in Manhattan – that in itself is worth writing about, but it is also the anniversary of Hōkūleʻa landing in Papeʻete some 41 years ago. This, with the fact that at this writing we are more than 2000 miles along our course, merely days away from bringing our sacred vessel home after being gone for more than 3 years on this voyage, really shows the mana of this canoe.

Today is a great reminder in the power of vision and persistence. I remember when we interviewed Herb Kane – now more than a decade ago – he talked about all the people that doubted that Hōkūleʻa would even be built, let alone make it all the way to Tahiti. Even now, as we are certain that Hōkūleʻa and her first crew changed everything for Polynesians and certainly Hawaiians, many of us are still in awe that they actually did it those 40 years ago. They take their place in the fabric of the kūʻē history that our kūpuna are so well known for as we celebrate those who were brave enough to sail into the unknown in search of a new destination. Still the tenacity of that first voyage and crew is something that we will all look back on and continued to be humbled by. All the unknowns, all the missing pieces, all the chaos that came from resurrecting the ʻOhana Waʻa after being asleep for many hundreds of years really set us up for what was next. At the time, I don’t think anyone knew it involved this tiny canoe sailing all the way around Island Earth but here we are.

And so we found ourselves in Jamaica Bay a year ago today, staging Hōkūleʻa to sail past the Statue of Liberty to get another island, the one with the giant buildings that defy gravity and reach for the highest of highs, Manhattan. Dwarfed by this background, Hōkūleʻa reminded us that as far-fetched as these two images were together, only the kind of audacity and vision that brought that first voyage could meld these realities. I don’t think we would have even realized that day we sailing into Manhattan that it was the 40th anniversary of the landing in Papeʻete but for the fact that one of the original crew members from the first trip, Billy Richards, was on board. Somewhere in that New York sail he reminded us that today was the day. Another amazing first landfall, 40 years later.

It took us another year to get to this far. Not quite home, but over the last 12 months since departing NYC we went up and down the Eastern seaboard, then to Panama, Galapagos, Rapa Nui and Tahiti. As we get ready to turn West to head home, I’m reminded that we are standing on the vessel that made it all happen. And so we literally keep sailing for the next ones, just as those before did for us. As our crew gets to close out the international portion of the Worldwide Voyage, we all want to honor and mahalo those that came before us, who dreamt impossible dreams, and backed it up with the kind of determination in life that took our little canoe around Island Earth.

We’ll see you all soon.

SB 72,
Nāʻālehu

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Crew Blog | Nāʻālehu Anthony : Believing isn’t necessarily Seeing

Crew blog by Nāʻālehu Anthony.

Naalehu Anthony

Believing isn’t necessarily Seeing

The navigation team works really hard. The intensity at which they must persist everyday is really interesting to observe because they take such pride in the work and because they are so serious about it. And why shouldn’t they be? They are responsible for tracking our canoe some 2400 miles across the ocean. So this team has to watch and be alert with all of their senses. That requires them to be present at all times. When we describe navigation to groups just getting on the canoe for the first time, we talk about how this system is about observation and that the keenness of our observation is what will determine what can be used as a clue to find direction. On this journey, the way the canoe changes pitch against the waves is a clue. The wind getting louder (or softer) relative to our speed is a clue. A star peeking out of the black night is definitely a clue. But one has to be aware of and ready to react to these clues to keep the course, as every deviation needs to be accounted for as we make our way home.

Bruce is really interesting to watch. He might be asleep on the top bunk on the deck, but when the canoe slows down because we turned too high into the wind, his naʻau will wake him up. He will sit up in that dark night and say, “You guys gotta come down;” and as we steer down off the wind, he will be lulled back to sleep as the course settles down inside him. That’s the bar — Bruce is really the bar that everyone on board sets as the goal to be like, but no one more than the navigation team. They are in charge of the course, and Bruce is here to make sure that everything is safe and that the team is successful.

As a photographer I have trained to be a very careful observer of people. I watch these navigators concentrate on the rhythm of this leg of this voyage, to the point where they stand at the stern of the canoe to take it all in and actually feel their way across this massive body of water. They are vigilant at night, always scanning the dark sky for any visible clue to give truth to what their other senses are whispering. Part of the test that I have witnessed the navigators partake in is being blind and having to find their way. We have had night after night of near 100% cloud cover block their eyes from the simple clues: the stars and planets. They are forced to look into the wave and to read the wind, not with their eyes but with their feet as the canoe rocks through their body, and with the feeling of the wind on their skin as they stand on the back of the deck, all the while waiting for a sign that the path is true. Then there comes that moment Venus will poke through a cloud, sometimes for a mere 30 seconds – but Venus shows up right where Venus is supposed to be. The direction is confirmed, and the team becomes a little more confident. Night after night now this is how it goes, seeking in the darkness for what cannot be seen.

I guess sometimes you gotta be blind to really see.

SB 72
Nāʻālehu

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Hōkūleʻa Update | June 03, 2017

Naalehu Anthony     Crew Blog by Nāʻālehu Anthony

Aloha kākou,

Today was a transition day in the weather and therefore one for us as well. We have moved through this region with an abundance of caution as the wave heights and wind strength have both been high for the past few days. With 100% cloud cover much of the time, we’ve seen just a few patches of stars or other celestial bodies as clues for sometimes just minutes. Hoku paʻa or the North Star has been especially shy. We use Polaris to measure our north latitude progress as we make our way back to Hawai’i to confirm our dead reckoning, so it is a really important star to see and measure as we sail mostly North.

This morning, however, brought us some sunshine, breaks in the clouds and some calmer seas. All of these are a plus for all of us. The sun beating down helps to dry out our drenched souls. The wind is getting colder and colder as we head North, and the Sun also helps to combat the cold wind. The clouds are starting to give way to blue sky, allowing the navigators to get a better mark on the all elusive sun and Mahina the moon. But the swells calming down are especially important. We have been literally covered in salt spray for days and getting around our small canoe has been real work without getting tossed around. Sleeping in the bunk is more like trench warfare, as we cling to the walls of our bunk for cover on what I swear on the big bumps feels like we’re up at 45 degree inclines. All of this takes energy and effort 24/7. The calmer weather lets us get back to the normal stuff; showering without a safety harness on, or washing clothes that now may have a chance of drying.

The meal tonight deserves a mention. While every meal is a gift, the one tonight may have topped the one I said was the highlight of the trip, the last one about the big ahi. J-Boy had pumpkin and onions already prepped for a night of curry and rice. All of a sudden, both port lines hit! Kawai made quick work of the short line with a 10 lb. ahi and the long line with a 15 lb-er. The boys rushed through the cleaning, and J-boy did a 180 on the meal now that fresh fish was on the menu. Somehow he took 26 ahi steaks, seared them, and whipped up an onion, ginger shoyu sauce in the same amount of time it would have taken for the curry. Poke with inamona was prepared as an appetizer, and the whole meal was served with pumpkin and rice as the vegetable and starch for the meal. Meanwhile, Kealoha was playing with our last cake mix, whipping up a pineapple upside-down cake for the crew. He’s still working out the logistics of getting these cakes to pop out of our pot that he cooks them in, but what was lacking in the precision of the upside-downing of the mea ʻono was more than made up for in flavor of the dessert. Dishes were cleared and washed as the whole crew worked to clean up before the darkness of the night, which makes things infinitely harder.

All in all today was a great day of being on the water.

SB 72,
Nāʻālehu

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Hōkūleʻa Update | June 06, 2017

Naalehu Anthony      Crew Blog by Nāʻālehu Anthony

Aloha all,

Lots of action today. The anticipation of getting closer to land is fueling the energy on board the canoe today. The weather has stabilized, so we are now in the groove as we make our way these last few miles on this part of the course.

We had a pretty rare event occur today – all four lines went off at the same time. We sailed through a pile of fish, and they went for all four of our lures. The two port lines landed a pair of ahi, the starboard line got a small mahi, and the long starboard line must have gotten hit by something big cause it took the whole lure. The mahi was made into chowder and served up for lunch, and the ahi was marinated for dinner. Dinner was miso ahi, rice and vegetables. At this point I won’t chime in about which fish dinner was better than the last, as they have all been pretty incredible.

J- Boy, Parker, Kealoha, and Kawai have worked together to make some really great, creative, and nourishing dishes as we make our way home. Heavy discussion takes place every time we catch a fish to make sure they come up with the best way to use it. It has been great to watch this side of the cooking emerge as each dinner is a culinary step up from the one before. That process would not be complete without some pretty awesome desserts too. Kealoha brought back the crepe station for a hana hou – it was the perfect way to close out this segment of the course.

After dinner we waited for darkness to try to measure the Southern Cross and the North Star. The clouds were not cooperating for the navigation staff to measure the cross, but Hoku paʻa emerged for a couple of minutes and they got a fix. From that bearing, the crew decided to turn down and head west. From dead reckoning we know that are a bit high on the latitude mark, and a little more than a couple hundred miles east of Kumukahi on the Big Island. Weʻll sail through the day tomorrow, and then make a decision from there.

On a side note, the Big Island is one of the first really high islands that has been a navigational target for any crew that I have sailed on. While the formula says that you can potentially see Mauna Kea from 120 miles out (two degrees of latitude), Bruce will tell you different. He says that every time he has been on a crew looking for the Big Island, they have been much closer before sighting. Once, the only thing they saw were the lights of Hilo as the rest of the Island was totally encased in clouds. So this is the challenge with this particular high island – we get to look for very high mountains, but those mountains are almost always locked away in the protection of the heavens.

Point being, this isn’t going to be easy. The next 225 miles are some of the most important and potentially the hardest. The crew recognizes this and we are all committed to work together in the steering and the navigation to pull land from the sea and finish strong. We have worked hard to get to this point, and now this is where we have to put away some of the math and theory and trust in the mana of our kupuna and their teachings and just look for the signs.

Pō malie, everyone.

SB 72,
Nāʻālehu

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Crew Blog | Keli Takenaga: Notes from the Galley

Notes from the Galley by Keli Takenaga | June 4, 2017

During this voyage home from Tahiti, I am on the 2-6 watch and my kuleana is cook and quartermaster. Here is a glimpse at my daily routine – my “notes from the Galley”.

Get up and ready for 2 a.m. to 6 a.m. watch. Around 3:30 or 4 a.m. (time determined by stars or my best guess when cloudy) I start prepping breakfast. Once breakfast is set up and I am off watch, I can shower and do any waʻa chores. When the 10-2 watch starts I begin to prep for lunch. If able and especially when needed, I’ll try to find time to grab a nap before my next watch at 2 p.m. During this second watch, I work on dinner prep around 3 p.m. to have it ready for our crew meeting before sunset. I think about food all day and all night – every day, and every night!

With a 6-day menu rotation (which changes a bit when we catch fish) I don’t have to guess the next meal. However, I try my best to use the day box ingredients to make different meals that aren’t necessarily on the menu, thinking about how to be creative to provide a different taste or twist with the ingredients on board. Waʻa cooks tend to bring some extra stuff from home to add their little touch; I bring things for treats and surprises for crew.

Having fresh produce is great. It’s important to know how and where to store them and how long they will last. Most fruits and veggies last at least a week, they can be used in the meals and cut up for snacks. Other things like onions, eggs, garlic, potatoes and pumpkin will last through the voyage, if stored properly.

As you can imagine, you cannot please everyone. At the least I make sure I know about everyone’s food allergies and food restrictions. Other challenges are weather – storms, squalls, and swells. When things are rough – guarranz you’re gonna get wet by squalls or splashes from the sea. In excessively windy conditions the burners will periodically go out too. Luckily, on Hikianalia we have a galley below. This is a dry space for me to prep most of my ingredients or even cook if it is too crazy on deck. We have a little oven in this below galley – which is nice to bake some goodies too. Maybe the biggest challenge aside from just cooking for 15 people is cooking for 15 people with wa`a food fatigue. We all talk about what we wanna eat when we get home – nobody ever says they wanna eat soy crumble spaghetti or tuna crackers once they hit land. : )

I’ve said it before – the best thing about being the cook is being able to do something for my crewmates everyday. This kuleana is an honor.

Other responsibilities I have as quartermaster are keeping track of our drinking water and knowing where everything is on the wa`a. Before and after the voyage, it is my kuleana to inventory and organize everything on the wa`a. All food items and wa`a supplies need to manifested and accounted for.

The kuleana related to wa`a cook and quartermaster is actually shared with a lot of people at home. The logistics team are the real heroes to making it all happen on the wa`a. As always a big mahalo to Lita and her team, and many other helping hands. Also big mahalo to our Tautira ʻOhana for all their kōkua to help prepare us for our voyage.

Mahalo nui to my two-six watch (Kala, Hina and Scottie) for their support to my kuleana, mahalo to Miki`ala for always being there to assist and mahalo to all my crewmates on this voyage for their support – and for washing dishes in the splash zone. Love all you guys!!!!

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Hōkūleʻa Nav Update| May 28-30, 2017

Leg 31 Navigation Updates

Day 11

24 hour nav update: May 27 6 am to May 28 6am 5/26

Total distance travelled along reference course: 1114 nmi, 57 mi west of reference course
(reference course starts at northern point of Tikehau at approx. 9am on May 19)

Average speed: 5 knots

Wind: Variable. For most of yesterday we had light winds of about 10 knots. The winds were shifty, and clocked further south during mid-day. By mid-morning it was back to Lā Koʻolau.

Heading: Variable. Nā Leo Koʻolau.

Lee drift: ½-1 house

Swell: Noio-ʻĀina Koolau, 6 ft, NE swell this morning. Noio Malanai, 8 ft, SE swell; Nā Leo Malanai 10-12 ft yesterday (difficult to pick out this morning)

Course made: Variable, Haka to Haka/Nā Leo Koʻolau

Clouds: 30% cloud coverage, cumulus at sunrise. Throughout the night cloud coverage was about 10%. The horizon was a little hazy but for the most part stars could be seen twinkling as low as a few degrees above the horizon.

Wildlife: ʻEwa ʻewa, boobies, ʻiwa, and few bites on the line but no takes.

Latitude: We calculated latitude two ways. 1) measured Kumau or the North star at 3 degrees last night, 2) based upon dead reckoning we believe at sunrise we are a little above 3 degrees.

We believe based upon these measurements that we are just north of 3 N at sunrise. We’ve started the second portion of our reference course. The shifty winds yesterday may be a sign that we are close to the doldrums. However, after sunset and into this morning we’ve had consistent ESE tradewinds!

Day 12

24 hour nav update: May 28 6 am to May 29 6am

Total distance travelled along reference course: 1291 nmi, 21 mi west of reference course

Distance along 2nd segment of reference course (ʻĀkau- 360 nm from 3N to 9 N): 118 nmi, 21 nmi west

Average speed: 6 knots

Wind: Lā Koʻolau. 15-20, variable speeds due to squalls.

Heading: Nā Leo Koʻolau.

Lee drift: ½-1 house

Swell: NE, Noio-ʻĀina Koʻolau swell, 6 ft this morning. SE swell, Nā Leo Malanai 8 ft (less consistent and getting a little more difficult to pick out this morning). Hikina wind swell, 4 ft. Inconsistent northerly swell hits the front portion of the canoe every now and then.

Course made: Haka/Nā Leo Koʻolau

Clouds: 10% or less cumulus clouds up until midnight. Clear horizon. After midnight the squalls began increasing cloud coverage to 80-100%. Cumulus clouds still dominate. Squall clouds exhibit some vertical development.

Wildlife- ʻEwa ʻewa, boobies, ʻiwa, and few bites on the line but no takes.

Latitude: We calculated latitude two ways. 1) measured Kūmau or the North star at 4 degrees last night. 2) based upon dead reckoning we believe at sunrise we are a little above 4 degrees.

Day 13

24 hour nav update from May 29 6am to May 30 6am

Total distance travelled along reference course: 1411 nmi, 4 mi west of reference course

Distance along 2nd segment of reference course (ʻĀkau- 360 nm from 3N to 9 N): 239 nmi, 4 nmi west

Average speed: 5 knots

Wind: Lā Koʻolau. 15-20, variable speeds due to squalls.

Heading: Haka Koʻolau.

Lee drift: 1 house

Swell: NE, Noio-ʻĀina Koʻolau swell 8-12 ft, increased since yesterday.

Course made: ʻĀkau

Clouds: At sunset nearly every type of cloud was present- upper level cirrus, mid level alto and strato cumulus, and low level cumulus. Due to multiple squalls, cloud coverage was variable. In between squalls there was less than 20% cloud coverage allowing us to steer off the stars and the moon during the mid day. Prior and during squalls, cloud coverage increased to 80-100%.

Wildlife: ʻEwa ʻewa, boobies, ʻiwa, and ʻuaʻu kani. Caught a small mahi in the debris line. Jumping squid are still present at night when we shine our lights to check speed.

Throughout the day we sailed through a debris line- foam and plastic fish floats, a gallon plastic milk carton, and a 55 gallon metal drum.

Latitude: We calculated latitude two ways. 1) Kūmau or the North star was measured at about 7 degrees last night, 2) based upon dead reckoning we believe at sunrise we are a little above 7 degrees.

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Hōkūle’a Update | June 2, 2017

Crew blog by Nā’ālehu Anthony

Aloha kākou,

We officially crossed into our fourth segment of the voyage this morning, the third in the set of four navigational segments of Leg 31.

We were at approximately 12 degrees north latitude at sunrise this morning, and our estimated mileage is 1723 and 37 miles west. While we are saying that we are officially out of the ITCZ, we are still seeing near 100% cloud cover for large parts of the day and night, as well as increased swell and wind (similar to yesterday). The sailing has been pretty slow going. We have reduced our sails down to the three smallest sails we have on board for large parts of the day, so we can move through these waves with care. While that helps a lot with the ride, waves are still breaking onto the canoe every few minutes to provide us with enough salt spray to last a lifetime.

There are only two segments left to this voyage home. We just entered a segment where we are trying to sail west of north for 670 miles, as we give up a bunch of that westing that we worked hard for at the start of this voyage. Once we get to the latitude of 20 degrees north, which is the latitude of the middle of the Big Island, we will turn straight west to search for land. This is a favorable plan as the Big Island really is big. It’s larger than all the other Hawaiian Islands combined, and houses some of the tallest mountains in the world. What that means for us is that we have a large target to hit, and we will see changes in clouds and other natural clues before we see actual land.

One interesting thing to note – while the waves and wind have been up at marginal conditions, our course has been particularly easy to steer. In fact, we have had the steering sweep out of the water for almost all of the last few days. This indicates that the sail choice and trimming is spot-on for the course we want. I think it also means that Hōkūleʻa really wants to come home – and all we have to do is let her lead the way.

SB 72,
Nāʻālehu

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Hōkūle’a Update | June 1, 2017

Crew blog by Nā’ālehu Anthony.

Aloha kākou,

Conditions have remained pretty rough but we have had good wind to keep pushing north towards home. We are still on line to cover approximately 2 degrees of latitude a day as we make our way to hopefully better seas. While the ocean is 12 feet with larger sets coming through from time to time, not all is bad with this line – Hōkūle’a for the most part climbs over them pretty well. The hard part is the occasional swell that breaks over the bow and coats us with a fresh complement of salty cold water.

We reduced all our sails today. We dropped the mizzen and put up a 25 crab claw, reducing our sail area in the back by 70 square feet. We also brought out the #7 jib as our backup jib, as the #9 is now working as our main jib. The winds are pretty consistent 20 kts with gusts higher than that, so we all welcomed the smaller sail set to better match the speed of our escort and to relieve the pressure on the rig.

The cloud conditions for the last 24 hours have been 80% for most of the time, but we are fortunate to get patches of open sky to get a latitude fix to keep course. Our wind direction is from the northeast and our course is just a bit to the west of north. The line the canoe is holding is straight and the navigation team is happy with it. We’re 1614 nmi along our course line and 23 miles to the west of it.

The excitement for the day came in the form of a pretty big strike that we got early in the morning. Please note that we have had a bunch of our lines tore up this trip by some pretty big fish. Bruce has had at least 5 lures and lines taken by the monsters that patrol these waters. This fish was no exception – Kawai Hoe took his time bringing in the fish, as there was plenty tension on the line, with the fish was driving down deep and Kawai battling it back to the surface. Once the fish was on board, it was estimated to be a 100 lb yellowfin tuna. We faced the same challenge as with the last fish – with no way to refrigerate, all the fish has to be eaten, dried, or shared. We ended up cutting the fish in half and buoying the rest to the escort boat. We simply tied the gill plate to a line and the line to a water bottle, and threw it overboard to float back. Half the fish was still well over 40 lbs and the Gershon II crew was thrilled with the gift.

With our canoe rich with high grade, ultra fresh ahi, our team of chefs went to work. We had seared ahi belly and pancakes for brunch. The ahi was dusted with garlic, salt and pepper before being cooked to perfection. The sauce was a ginger shoyu concoction with a few other secret ingredients. The boys went to work cutting the bulk of the fish for drying as there were still pounds and pounds of fish to deal with, but saved a bunch for dinner. J-boy made a light course of sashimi and then put the rest of the steaks into a teriyaki marinade. After some time had passed, J-boy and the cooking posse battered them in panko and made ahi katsu with hot rice. The sauce for the katsu was a wasabi mayo aioli that went great with the crunchy dish. Most crew are in agreement that this could have been the best meal of the trip. Everyone had their fill and there was still some left for the midnight watch. All in all a great day. Mahalo nui to Kanaloa for the gift of sustenance.

SB 72,

Nāʻālehu

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