Hokule‘a crew backtracks

By Susan Kreifels
Star-Bulletin

Hokule'a star navigators, realizing they have missed the Marquesas Islands, are tacking against winds to get back on track to their destination.

Nainoa Thompson, a senior navigator at the Polynesian Voyaging Society, said today that the traditional sailing canoe traveled about 202 miles west of the Marquesas, the first stop on a historic voyage to Rapa Nui. Had they gone much farther west, he would have considered calling the canoe and suggesting a course of action, since it is being guided only by natural signs rather than navigational equipment.

In that event, Thompson said, the Hokule'a captain still would have made the final decision and that Thompson would have given the crew a location only if asked.

Thompson said the Hokule'a is tacking east into the wind and it will take at least three days to get to Nukuhiva, its destination in the Marquesas.

"They did incredibly well to get to the general area of the Marquesas," Thompson said. "It's uncanny how close they were. In their choice to go west to search for land, they realized that they had gone too far and they are in the process of working back east.

"They are trained to do that. It's a great adventure and it isn't easy."

The Hokule'a left Hilo June 15 on the first leg of the Rapa Nui voyage -- 2,185 miles to Nukuhiva. The second leg, expected to last all the month of August, will take the canoe 966 miles to Mangareva.

The hardest leg will be the 1,450 miles to Rapa Nui, also called Easter Island, the most isolated inhabited island in the world. Thompson will co-navigate that leg with three other experienced navigators.

Thompson said any of four safety issues could cause voyage organizers to consider calling a canoe to suggest navigation information: the health of the crew, the seaworthiness of the canoe or escort boat, environmental issues such as storms, and the length of time at sea if the canoe is running off course and will be out too long.

"If they had gone east much farther, we would have had to step in by our parameters and let them know to tack back to the Marquesas," Thompson said.

Thompson said the navigators only know where they are by memorizing where they come from and keeping track of their headings, speed and time. He said from Hilo to the Marquesas allows the celestial navigators only 2 degrees of maneuvering, creating a very tight course to hit the Marquesas.

Sail of the Century
Hokule'a to Rapa Nui