Hikianalia Update | Aug 20, 2018:
Hikianalia Update by Hye Jung Kim
Hikianalia 3 a.m. Update
Since our last update, we have traveled Nā Leo on average at 6 knots. So we have made about 66 miles north while doing about 27 miles of easting. We had an awesome dinner last night of curry and fried mahimahi from our cooks Gary and Keli. We had a few squalls come through during night – the temperature took a noticeable drop and the dominant east swell became a bit weaker. This morning, we have cloud coverage all around closer to the horizon, but clear above us.
We hope that everybody back home is doing well!
Hikianalia 3 p.m. Update
Anakala Gary made andagi! It was so delicious, and the crew loved the pick-me up. Our crew have been gifted some bone carvings from Gary and so we spent some time creating necklaces to hold the carvings. We sailed today with the hoe (steering paddle) down on all three of our day watches, which gave a bit more of free time.
Kapena and lead navigator Lehua spent time throughout the day to train all of us with some details on the directions that the stars will travel throughout the night.
Updates and navigation reports often make reference to “star houses” – segments of Nainoa Thompson’s Hawaiian star compass.
Our 6 a.m. – 10 a.m. watch averaged 6.5 knots with the heading of Haka Koʻolau – ʻĀkau. The crew adjusted the stowed water to see if Hikianalia would sail further into the wind, but the direction of the wind shifted, so we are adjusting as well. In the past few days, we have covered some easting so we have a little bit of wiggle room (read Tamiko’s crew blog about the the sail plan here).
Our 10 a.m. – 2 p.m. watch was holding Haka/ʻĀkau today due to the wind shift. They were averaging 6 knots and sighted a few plastic items passing by the hulls of the waʻa. In the middle of the ocean, we find all the remnants of what humans do to the earth. Keeps us grounded in the fact that what we do matters and we have to do better!
Tracking map as of Aug 20, 2018, 9:37 p.m. HST
Our 2 p.m. – 6 p.m. watch saw some new swells from the northwest mixed in with our dominant east swell. During our watch, we fell off of the wind so we adjusted by putting more weight up towards our bow. Our overall heading was Haka Koʻolau – ʻĀkau at 5.5-6 knots on average. Good thing we banked some of our easting!
So after today, we are around 26 degrees in latitude and approximately 110nm east of the reference course. Kapena and lead navigator Lehua will help us all get a latitude fix using Manaiakalani’s Ka Maka and the horizon.
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