Crew readies Hokule‘a
for the goal, Rapa Nui

By Susan Kreifels
Star-Bulletin

The Hokule'a crew got a day off yesterday, touring the island of Mangareva after making its first-ever port call there.

And they've been faced with problems they don't have in Hawaii.

"They don't have trash disposals there," said Uluwehi Hopkins of the Polynesian Voyaging Society, who spoke with crew member Nalani Wilson by phone yesterday.

"We have waste they don't have. Being there is really an eye-opener for her," she said of Wilson's experiences in Mangareva.

Hokule'a to Rapa Nui
Jun. 7, 1999
Rapa Nui, the Loneliest Island
Jun. 14, 1999

Hawaii's first traditional voyaging canoe arrived in Mangareva on Saturday and the crew has been cleaning and preparing the Hokule'a for its final leg of this historic voyage to Rapa Nui.

Chad Baybayan, Hokule'a captain and navigator, told Hopkins the canoe had made a big impact on the island. Most houses have posters of the Hokule'a hung on their doors to greet the Hawaii crew.

"After school, the kids go to the dock and hang around by the Hokule'a," Hopkins said.

The current crew will leave Mangareva for Hawaii on Wednesday. The new crew for the final leg to Rapa Nui will arrive in Mangareva on Sept. 14 and leave a few days later.

For the past 25 years the Hokule'a has been retracing the migration routes of the ancient Polynesians who settled every inhabitable island in the Pacific Ocean. The Hokule'a departed the Big Island on June 15 for this last and most difficult voyage of the century.

The public can track the progress of the Hokule'a by looking on the World Wide Web site http://leahi.kcc.hawaii.edu/org/pvs/ Photographs from the Hokule'a are slated to be available at http://www.hokulea.net