Hokule'a gears for journey ahead
The voyaging canoe's crew gears for its journey to Micronesia and Japan
Hokule'a Capt. Bruce Blankenfeld points to land at least three miles away from Kewalo Basin that looks like a fingernail.
That shows the difficulty of finding low-lying atolls on the upcoming voyage through Micronesia. "You really need to be watchful, especially at night, or you could pass them," he said.
One of the stops on an upcoming trip will be to the island of Satawal, about a mile long and a half-mile wide, whose highest point is 8 feet.
As the 62-foot, double-hull voyaging canoe Hokule'a leaves Oahu possibly by Saturday to embark on its first journey south to Micronesia and then Japan, 11 crew members are preparing to face a number of challenges.
The crew was scheduled to leave tomorrow for the Big Island and rendezvous with sister vessel Alingano Maisu, but gale-force winds expected later this week will likely delay the trip, according to a Hokule'a official.
Although the Hokule'a will be sailing before the summer typhoon season, it faces warm El Niño weather, which can breed tropical storms.
The voyage through Micronesia alone will require sailing some 4,370 miles.
As in most of its past, the Hokule'a and the Alingano Maisu will be relying on native wayfinding techniques that require vigilance and an understanding of nature.
Blankenfeld, the Hokule'a navigator, will be studying the position of at least 100 stars at night, including the false Southern Cross and the North Star.
Over Hawaii, the North Star is at an angle 21 degrees north of Hawaii, but is about 7 degrees north when viewed on Majuro in the Republic of the Marshall Islands.
Blankenfeld said the crew will also be looking for seabirds that live on islands and atolls.
The name of the voyage, "Ku Holo Mau/Sail On, Sail Always, Sail Forever," was selected to honor Mau Piailug, the master navigator who taught traditional wayfinding methods to a generation of native Hawaiians and helped spark a renaissance in voyaging canoes in the Pacific.
The Big Island-based group Na Kalai Wa'a Moku o Hawaii built the Maisu and will be delivering it to Mau on his home island of Satawal.
The first leg of the journey is expected to be the most arduous, a roughly 22-day sail over more than 2,200 miles of ocean and crossing the International Date Line.
From Majuro, the Hokule'a will sail west to Kosrae, Ponape, Truk, Pulawat, then Satawal, followed by Woleai, Ulithi and Yap, then on to the Republic of Palau in early March to complete the Micronesian voyage.
The Japan leg of the journey from March through late May is a 2,675-mile journey, honoring the late King David Kalakaua and his work in opening the doors to Japanese immigration in 1885.
The Hokule'a will sail from Palau to Okinawa, then Kumamoto, Nagasaki, Fukuoka, Yamaguchi, Hiroshima, Uwajima and Yokohama, where Kalakaua signed the immigration treaty.
