Update | October 21, 2014

Aloha, this is Mark Ellis, education specialist as well as apprentice navigator here on Hikianalia. We are passing Vavaʻu. Being one of the apprentice navigators for leg of the voyage was a great experience for me. I don’t know if I want to call myself an apprentice navigator, maybe training to become an apprentice navigator. So one of the main things that we did on this portion was to use the sun and the swells. We had a swell that was coming across Nalani-Malanai. So we named that swell Nalani. The swell was always there. There was couple other swells that were coming across. But Nalani was constantly there for us so that we were able to continue the path. So from this observation, I believe our ancestors – our kūpuna – really knew the environment they were living in. They were at one with their environment. For me, at times, I’m not very connected with the environment. I’m listening to other things, whether it is deadlines that I’ve got to take care of. But we actually should listen to our environment, and our environment will lead us and help us in those ways. So this experience, especially in the past several days, I’ve been learning and fine tuning the navigation and wayfinding skills. This experience will give me that foundation that I can share with others when I go back home. I think it becomes even more real that this guy is not just talking about book smarts, but he’s actually lived it. Thanks again, and continue to follow us on Hokulea.com.

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