Sailors aboard the
Hokule‘a sight their goal
just after dawn today

By Susan Kreifels
Star-Bulletin

The night was long and the winds had turned cold after 72 hours of overcast sky. With reddened eyes, the Hokule'a crew saw a sliver of sun break through the dark sky this morning. A thin, barely perceptible black line appeared on the horizon.

And then, in quiet reverence and awe, they communed, perhaps stronger than ever before, with the ancient Polynesian ancestors who had been guiding them to this tiny island -- not just since June 15 when they left Hilo, but for the past 25 years.

By George F. Lee, Star-Bulletin
The crew of the Hokule'a made landfall today in about 23 days
less than their alotted time. It is shown during trial runs in June
in waters off Honolulu before departing to Hilo
and then on to Rapa Nui.

At 2 a.m. today, Hawaii time, the Hokule'a and its crew spotted Rapa Nui, completing a quarter-century of retracing the migration routes of the Polynesian star navigators -- the greatest deep-sea sailors of their time. And they celebrated the oneness of the sea, the oneness of the Polynesian people and the astounding navigational feats the Hawaiians and their Oceanic cousins have accomplished this century.

THE VOYAGE Hokule'a's journey was considered by many to be its most difficult. Departure: June 15 from Hilo. Distance: About 9,000 miles. Significance: To prove the skills of Polynesian ancestors who navigated the Pacific by reading the stars and sea. Maximum travel time (last leg): 40 days from Mangareva to Rapa Nui. Actual travel time: 17 days. Navigators: Bruce Blankenfeld, Chad Baybayan and Nainoa Thompson. Next leg: Rapa Nui to Tahiti.

"Almost like something much deeper within all of us that got us to this point of finding Rapa Nui, something that leads us to the ancestral past," Hokule'a co-navigator Chad Baybayan said in a satellite phone interview as the canoe sat 10 miles off Rapa Nui.

The Hokule'a started the final Rapa Nui leg, the most difficult voyage the canoe had ever faced, giving itself 40 days to find the tiny destination. Instead it arrived in 17 days -- a combination of good winds, skilled crew and something else hard to put into words.

"It certainly was something more powerful," Baybayan said.

Baybayan said the canoe had slowed yesterday after unexpectedly good weather, and then the winds shifted course through the night.

The sun opened above one corner of the dark sea at dawn. Co-navigator Bruce Blankenfeld and Max Yarawamai, nephew of grand master navigator Mau Piailug, saw the thin line on the horizon.

Nainoa Thompson, senior Hokule'a navigator, studied the seas and fell quiet. Without any words spoken, the crew knew it was Rapa Nui. And in silence, they hugged.

"We could have easily sailed past and not seen it, way past," Baybayan said. "Some forces brought us to this point. Nainoa said this morning that the canoe has mana, its own spirit. It found its way here. It was so strong, being on the ocean with these people.

By Cliff Wassman, Special to the Star-Bulletin
Massive stone heads called moai at Rano Raraku, Rapa Nui's
main ancient quarry where hundreds of the stone-faced giants
lie in various states of completion.

"Very few people in life have an opportunity to live out their dreams. For me to be able to do it here..."

The Hokule'a set out on its historic voyage June 15 from the Big Island.

It left on the third and final leg of the Rapa Nui sail on Sept. 21 from Mangareva.

The Hokule'a plans to land on Rapa Nui tomorrow, sailing in on its own with heavy tacking.

Thompson had always warned Hawaii and its people that the Hokule'a could have missed Rapa Nui, about 50 square miles and the most isolated inhabited island in the world. The canoe also sailed against prevailing winds. The crew had planned to do heavy tacking on the way, but unexpected good winds made that unnecessary.

The navigators, reading only the maps in their minds, use the stars, waves and other signs of nature -- following the ancient Polynesians -- to guide them. They have no modern navigational equipment aboard.

By George F. Lee, Star-Bulletin
Nainoa Thompson is shown aboard Hokule'a
before sailing to Rapa nui.

Hawaii's children throughout the state have followed the voyage through a Web site, school curriculum and teleconferencing.

Thompson has emphasized that the voyage is for Hawaii's children -- to teach them the values of their ancestors and the importance of preserving their islands and the ocean surrounding them.

Piailug, of Micronesia, taught traditional navigation to the Hawaiians 25 years ago at a time when the ancient skills had almost disappeared in Polynesia.

The voyaging helped prompt a resurgence of Hawaiian culture.

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

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