2016 East Coast of the US
In March, Hōkūleʻa touched the continental US for the first time in the Everglades of Florida. She will be sailing up the East Coast over the next several months connecting with schools, Native American peoples, maritime communities and more. Hōkūleʻa will engage in ports from the Everglades to Manhattan to collect and share stories. The crew expects to encounter a depth and diversity of backgrounds in these communities and will strive to hear them all.
“How do we enter somebody else’s home, somebody else’s land, from very different diverse cultures and histories that are all relevant, that are all meaningful, that are all powerful, and simply come in and make sure that we have permission, and make sure that we are going to be decent, and make sure to thank and honor and pay respect to all people?” asked Thompson.
To start, Hōkūleʻa engaged with the Seminole people of South Florida. “We believe that the first people we should see is first peoples. Out of respect. So coming into Florida, in the Key West area, knowing that this is the land of the Seminoles, we’re working with them to trust us that we’re coming for the right reasons.” After visiting with the first people of South Florida, Hōkūleʻa voyaged to Cape Kennedy where crew visited the NASA Space Center to honor Hawai‘i astronaut Lieutenant Colonel Lacy Veach.
“The country needs to know that Lacy was the one that planted the idea as a seed into us in 1992 to take Hōkūleʻa around the world.” said Thompson, “Florida becomes foundational for us to articulate and communicate to this country that that’s why we’re coming – out of respect, and out of honoring and making sure that they know that Lacy’s legacy counts. I don’t think we can go up the coast until we establish that.”
Following Florida, the crew travelled up the east coast making several stops (see schedule below) including South Carolina, North Carolina and Virginia, where PVS celebrated Earth Day with the Mariner’s Museum in Newport News, offering canoe tours and dockside outreach to the public. Additional engagement stops in Virginia included Yorktown and Tangier Island, where the crew focused on many of the environmental issues affecting the Chesapeake Bay and the efforts to protect the country’s largest watershed. From there, the iconic canoe arrived at the nation’s capital by sailing down the Potomac River and docking at the Washington Canoe Club.
After spending about a week in Washington DC, Hōkūleʻa sailed to New York City, where she was a focal point at World Oceans Day events hosted by the United Nations on June 8, 2016. The theme of this year’s World Oceans Day was Healthy Oceans, Healthy Planet. While in New York City, Hōkūleʻa crew also participated in the Hawaiian Airlines Liberty Challenge, which is the east coast’s largest Pacific Islands festival and one of the world’s most competitive outrigger races. Hōkūleʻa departed New York City on June 18, for several engagements in the New England area.
March 23-25
March 26
April 5-8
April 14
April 23
April 24 – May 8
May 9
May 15-16
May 18-23
June 5-18
June 20-23
– June 21
June 23-27
– June 24-26
June 28-July 1
July 1-5
July 5-8
July 9-14
July 14-16
July 16-19
July 20-22
July 22-27
July 31-Aug 3
Aug 9
Key West, FL
Gulf Coast Visitor Center, Everglades City, FL
Titusville Municipal Marina, Titusville, FL
Charleston Maritime Center, Charleston, SC
Newport News, VA – Earth Day Celebration
Riverwalk Landing, Yorktown, VA
Tangier Island, VA
Old Town Alexandria, VA
Washington Canoe Club, Washington, DC
New York City, NY
Block Island, RI
–Public Canoe Tours, 11 am – 3 pm
Mystic Seaport, CT
-Canoe Tours, every afternoon 1-5 pm
Martha’s Vineyard, MA
Woods Hole, MA
New Bedford, MA
Boston, MA
Salem, MA
Portsmouth, NH
Hurricane Island, ME
Mt. Desert, ME
Yarmouth, Nova Scotia
Salem
Crewmember Roster
Leg 18: Virgin Islands, Cuba and Florida
Leg 19: Florida to Virginia
Leg 20: Virginia to New York City
Leg 22: Maine to Nova Scotia to New York
Leg 23: New York to Great Lakes to New York
Stories, Blogs, and Galleries from this Leg:
More from this voyage legHōkūle‘a at Shake-A-Leg in Miami
While at Shake-A-Leg in Miami, Florida, the crew has been graciously hosted by an organization with a unique and inspiring mission.Hōkūleʻa Update | December 18, 2016
Hōkūleʻa is visited by an ānuenue and an ʻiwa as they departed Miami on Sunday, December 18 - the first movement on Leg 26 from Miami to Panama.Hōkūleʻa Update | December 5-8, 2016
After arriving in Miami, crewmembers prepare Hōkūle‘a for departure on Leg 26 from Miami to Panama, as documented by crewmember Kaipo Kīʻaha.Crew Blog | Kālepa Baybayan: Leg 25 Mahalo
Hōkūleʻa Captain Kālepa Baybayan extends a mahalo to his crew of Leg 25 for a successful 1,100 miles voyaged from Virginia to Florida.