Written by Nā’ālehu Anthony

Aloha nui kākou,

Crew 22 made it safely to Maine! We are sitting about 5 miles from where Hōkūleʻa is moored, in Mt. Desert. Heidi and Moani picked us up at the airport in Bangor to make the hour and a half drive back to join the rest of the Leg 21 crew in Mt. Desert.

We met up with the Leg 21 crew at the home of John “Jock” Williams. Jock and his wife are ‘ohana to Nainoa and Bruce, and are hosting the canoe and the crew at his boatyard where he is well-known for custom boat-builds. In fact, as part of the extensive work done to prepare Hōkūleʻa for the Worldwide Voyage, Jock rebuilt her ‘iako. Coming to Mt. Desert is in part an opportunity to pay respect to this part of our far-flung family that is part of the genealogy of the canoe.

This outgoing crew is in great shape and very high spirits even after about a dozen stops over the last 5 weeks. They have interacted with port communities and indigenous peoples along this whole East Coast from New York to Maine, making frequent stops to celebrate hosts and local communities. Leg 21 was a leg of celebration and connection. As crewmewmbers know, land engagement is often more exhausting than sailing time! And so they are also ready to go home, to see their families and get back into the rhythm of land life.

Our crew overlap in port is only barely a day for this crossover, but it is precious time that we get to spend together to hand off kuleana from one crew to the next, and to also enjoy some time together. Many of us don’t get a chance to sail together based on the various schedules we have to balance against sailing and the selection process for each leg crew by our captains. So nights like these serve as a great reminder of the commonality we find through the voyage, and the depth of our connection as ʻohana waʻa. We gathered at the Williams hale for dinner – 5000 miles from home and 30 of us from Hawaiʻi can come together for a meal and feel just like we’re at home. The crew ate Maine lobster, lasagna and other local favorites while telling stories about the people and places that the Leg 21 crew encountered over the last few weeks. As it turns out we had a couple of birthdays in the house (and I’d also like to wish my niece Haʻena a Happy Birthday from Maine!) – we had the pleasure of celebrating with Tom from Leg 21 and Niko from Leg 22 . Two birthday cakes were served and everyone sang “Happy Birthday” for the birthday boys. This time together builds the strength of our ‘ohana — strength that will serve us well over the many miles left to cover before Hōkūleʻa returns home.

SB 71,
Lehu

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