CREWMEMBER HIGHLIGHT: Mahina Hou Ross
Crew Profile: Mahina Hou Ross
PVS Member Since 1998
HOMETOWN:
Kaunakakai, Hawaii
PRIMARY DUTY:
Education Specialist
OTHER RESPONSIBILITIES:
Rescue swimmer and assistant cook
WORLDWIDE VOYAGE LEGS SAILED:
Leg 5: Samoa to Aotearoa
Mahina Hou Ross, originally from the island of Molokai, first become involved with PVS in 1998 when they were preparing for the Rapa Nui voyage. Mahina received the opportunity to do a training sail when Hōkūleʻa came to Molokai, but could not participate in the voyage as his wife had just given birth to their first son.
Never wavering from his dreams of being a crewmember, Mahina got the opportunity to bring his students from the O Hina I Ka Malama Hawaiian Language Immersion Program from Molokai High School to do a sail on Hōkūleʻa.
Now that Mahinaʻs children are older, he has been given the opportunity of a lifetime to participate in the Mālama Honua Worldwide Voyage as a crewmember. Mahina feels the mana of Hōkūleʻa and all the opportunities she provides. As he sails around the world he will take great pride in promoting the caring for our ocean resources and the outreach to many nations.
He says, no matter where the voyage goes, who is on the crew at the time, or which students are tuning in to participate from their classrooms, the most important aspect is going to be teaching and learning the resources of the ocean.
“A canoe is like an island; an island is like a canoe,” he says. “You have limited resources on a canoe. You have interpersonal relationships with everyone on board. All of that. So we want to take that manao and spread it to the world, the idea that the world is an island and that we need to care for our resources and our relationships.”
Never wavering from his dreams of being a crewmember, Mahina got the opportunity to bring his students from the O Hina I Ka Malama Hawaiian Language Immersion Program from Molokai High School to do a sail on Hōkūleʻa.
Now that Mahinaʻs children are older, he has been given the opportunity of a lifetime to participate in the Mālama Honua Worldwide Voyage as a crewmember. Mahina feels the mana of Hōkūleʻa and all the opportunities she provides. As he sails around the world he will take great pride in promoting the caring for our ocean resources and the outreach to many nations.
He says, no matter where the voyage goes, who is on the crew at the time, or which students are tuning in to participate from their classrooms, the most important aspect is going to be teaching and learning the resources of the ocean.
“A canoe is like an island; an island is like a canoe,” he says. “You have limited resources on a canoe. You have interpersonal relationships with everyone on board. All of that. So we want to take that manao and spread it to the world, the idea that the world is an island and that we need to care for our resources and our relationships.”
