Changing Tides

By ʻOiwi TV

When the responsibility falls upon your shoulders, and you have the skill sets to deliver good leadership, then you have to it would be irresponsible not to deliver good leadership. 

With over 140,000 nautical miles under its belt Hōkūleʻa has undergone a significant amount of change since its early voyages to the South Pacific. The same can be said about the roles and responsibilities veteran sailors will be taking on during the Worldwide Voyage.

“Before it was about me just learning and exploring. I was just a young crew member, and the townships that we visited was just a learning experience. I was just an apprentice navigator back then in 1985. All of the crew members was young. We were all learning together, and we were all exploring. We were having a great, great time. We were sailing into new waters like Huahine and Raiatea, and the canoes was going through passes for the very, very first time. This time’s different because I come to this project now with a different kind of hat. I have to be professional,” said master navigator Kålepa Baybayan.

“I was asked to go to Tahiti and to Samoa to just handle the pre-logistical planning for the trip, and just because my numerous voyages I’ve done, I s\know the kind of direction and the kinds of questions that needs to be asked and answered. I think when the responsibility falls upon your shoulders, and you have the skill sets to deliver good leadership, then you have to it would be irresponsible not to deliver good leadership.

“I always ask myself three questions: if not me, then who? If not here, then where? And if not now, then when? I can do it because I’m prepared to do it, because I’m one of the better people at doing it because I know I have the respect of a lot of people below me, and they trust me to provide that kind of leadership and they listen to me. I can see the whole picture, I know that we got to get food into these ports, and I understand the process of bringing food in…what’s the clearance protocols, what’s the customs clearances, are they open on weekends when the flight arrives? I can think through all these steps, I can think through what happens to the canoe when they show up in port. We need housing, we need someplace to sleep, right? We need laundry, we need mens and women’s bathrooms, we need bunks. Do we need to bring all this stuff off the canoe. Just those kinds of questions,” said Kålepa.