Hikianalia Update | May 4, 2015

The Polynesian voyaging canoe Hikianalia is on a 2,400 mile journey from Aotearoa to Hawaiʻi. Crewmembers will be sending frequent updates so that educators and students can track her progress in conjunction with the Worldwide Voyage Tracking Map. 

Written by Jason Patterson

Time: Sunset, Mahealani moon
Course: Weʻve tacked several times in the last 24 hours in order to keep inching our way towards Tahiti, trying as best we can to head in an overall north easterly direction with the limited and variable winds that we have.
Wind: Variable, less than 10 knots and changing around the compass like hands on a clock
Speed: 1-3 knots
Weather: Cloudy, squally, occasional lightning downwind or behind us. But at least the air and water are warm. Now weʻre always looking forward to squalls because it’s our only source of powerful wind and it’s another opportunity for a fresh water rinse, which feels so nice.
Sea State: small seas, pretty calm, swells coming at us from weird angles
Marine Life: We started the morning with a pair of koʻaʻe ʻula that came out to greet the canoe and flew purposefully from a north easterly direction. I was kind of hoping they would fish and then promptly return in the direction they had come from to show us exactly where land is. This afternoon Timi almost landed an ono, the first fish weʻve hooked up in I canʻt remember how long. But unfortunately it got loose just as it got to the side of the canoe.

The weather and the winds have been challenging as of late. The many squalls yesterday and last night meant we got a lot of practice with raising and lowering our larger head sails. The changing wind angles and low wind speeds have really made making forward progress towards Tahiti pretty difficult and weʻre just doing whatever we can to close that gap.

Please help keep us sailing for future generations. All contributions make a difference for our voyage. Mahalo nui loa!