“Balanced Meal”

While the ladies have done their job of repacking the food that will go on the first two voyaging legs, it is now up to the guys to load it all onto the waʻa.

“It’s all about balancing. Weight and balance. So after they pack everything by days and by commodities, then they weigh it and then they give us the average on everything,” said Hikianalia captain Bruce Blankenfeld.

All the necessary information is organized onto a single label found at the front of each container.

“The labels help because it will tell us which containers are which. So it tells us what is in it and the weight,” said Nakua Lind, quartermaster on Hikianalia.

“But the beautiful thing about that is just a part of staying organized. The first big step in all of this is organization. If we can put organization in, then we’re headed in the right direction. Everything else will flow really nicely,” said Bruce.

“Uncle Bruce’s role was telling us where to place it on the waʻa and things like that. So it’s more for like weight wise, to balance out the displacement of the canoe,” said Nakua.

But as quartermaster, Nakua’s job is just as important.

“My kuleana as quartermaster is to inventory every single thing that passes the rails onto the canoe,” said Nakua.

“The quartermaster on any vessel is important. So his job is to know where everything is at, and so that’s very important because obviously when you need something, you know where it is,” said Bruce.

“This kuleana, this is a very big kuleana for my first time so I am honored to have had the chance to do the kuleana with Uncle Bruce helping out right by my side. So thank God for him,” said Nakua.

“It’s good that’s he’s doing it. This is his first voyage. And we’re trying to get all of the young guys to take all that kind of kuleana so we build in that memory as we move ahead over the years and decades,” said Bruce.