There are no e-mails to check, no online charts to reference, no modern-day distractions – only the stars, sea, wind and Mother Nature to guide the crew.
The Polynesian canoe Hōkūleʻa has been making its way down the Southern California coastline, previously stopping in Marina Del Rey and earlier this week in Newport Beach. It will be docking at the Ocean Institute in Dana Point on Saturday for the weekend before heading to the Maritime Museum of San Diego from Nov. 8-14.
It is all part of a four-year adventure navigating the Pacific Ocean.
“It’s a great way to disconnect and reconnect with the nature around us,” said crewmember Jonah Apo, from Oahu. “We are fully immersed when we are deep at sea.”
Thousands of years ago, voyagers used only nature and ancestral knowledge as their map to navigate between islands, but through the generations the knowledge was lost.
In an attempt to resurrect the traditional methods, the Polynesian Voyaging Society built the Hōkūleʻa, a double-hulled canoe, for an inaugural trip from Hawaii to Tahiti in 1976.
“Voyaging is the origin of how Polynesians migrated throughout the Pacific, they were exceptional navigators and adventurers. They were the astronauts of their time,” Apo said. “At one point, that knowledge and history was lost.
“We’re reclaiming that culture and knowledge of navigators,” he said. “When you think of the people who came before you, it’s an important aspect in Hawaiian culture.”
During a tragic trip two years after the first voyage, in 1978, surfing big-wave legend Eddie Aikau died while trying to save fellow crew members caught in a storm. He attempted to paddle to shore for help, but was never seen again.
The rest of the crew was eventually saved, and a plaque at the front of the ship today reminds people of Aikau’s legacy.
Not wanting to end the ship’s story with Aikau’s death, one of the last remaining experienced voyagers, Mau Piailug, trained others to navigate the Hōkūle‘a in an attempt to replicate the successful 1976 voyage.
They made the journey from Tahiti back to Hawaii, a feat that hadn’t been accomplished in 600 years. It was the beginning of many more successful voyages in the following decades. In 2000, Hōkūleʻa was proclaimed as Hawaii’s first state treasure.
The vessel has been on 15 major excursions. Most recently, it went on a world-wide voyage from 2014 to 2017 with its sister ship, the Hikianalia Voyaging Canoe, visiting Dana Point in 2018.
Hōkūleʻa’s current adventure kicked off in Alaska in June for a four-year trek that will cover 43,000 nautical miles.
The plan has shifted because of the El Nino and hurricane season expected to hit this winter, as well as the devastating fires on Maui, so the crew will head home to Hawaii following the San Diego stop.
The voyage will resume in the South Pacific through New Zealand, Australia and eventually up to Japan, before the Hōkūleʻa is shipped back to Los Angeles to make its way down to Mexico and South America.
Apo said he was first introduced to the vessel in high school, joining a few training sails, and quickly fell in love with the canoe and voyaging. He became a volunteer at age 16 and now, at 23, is part of the crew.
At each port, the reception has been amazing, he said.
“We’ve been met with many gracious hosts,” he said, noting that before coming to shore, they always get permission from indigenous tribes to enter the water and land.
“There’s so much excitement about the canoe, kids are curious about it,” he said. “Sharing our canoe with them is one of my favorite parts of the voyage.”
“Legacy is important and being able to share our knowledge with future generations,” he said.
The Hōkūleʻa will arrive in Dana Point Harbor on Saturday, Nov. 4, with a ceremony at sea at 4 p.m. and a welcome ceremony at the Ocean Institute at 5 p.m. On Sunday, there will be a screening of the Disney movie “Moana” at 6:45 p.m., with commentary from the crew.
Free dockside canoe tours will be held from 2 to 4 p.m. on Sunday; 1 to 5 p.m. on Monday; and 9 to 11 a.m. Tuesday.
More info: hokulea.com
