Ka Wai Ola - Office of Hawaiian Affairs, Volume 2, Number 12, 1 December 1985 — Hokulevʻa on Dangerous Trip [ARTICLE]

Hokulevʻa on Dangerous Trip

The Polynesian Voyaging Society's double-hulled eanoe Hokule'a was scheduled to undertake one of the most ehallenging trips in its Voyage of Rediscovery when it was slated to sail from Rarotonga to New Zealand around Nov. 14. This trip, whieh is expected to take between 20 to 3 1 days, will be different and dangerous because November is usually the start of the hurricane season. Additionally, the Hokule'a has never before ventured outside the tropics. Wind, sea and sky are all different in southerly Pacific latitudes. The experienced crew, whieh will be increased to 14 for this joumey , will have to adjust for arduous conditions not yet encountered in the canoe's 10 years of sailing. Navigator Nainoa Thompson's task will be made even more difficult with the increasing cold water, reversal of wind direction and a change in the surface of the sea. The unreliability of the southeast swell will be another factor. Stars will also be less available. December is summertime in the south-

ern hemisphere when days are long and nights are short. Twilight is long and lingering and Thompson will have less than seven hours of starlight for navigation so he'll have to rely more on the sun than the stars. "We're out here to leam," says Thompson who is taking along two Iife rafts, a first for any of the Hokule'a sailings. "This voyage will help us better to understand how ancient Polynesians were able to sail over such long distances to tiny island targets — and they did it using only mind and senses. " A thousand years ago the Maori people made the voyage and settled New Zealand. Through retracing the movement of those ancient peoples on the 1985-87 'Voyage of Rediscovery', we'll leam of difficulties the Maori navigators must have encountered and how they might have solved those navigational problems," Thompson observed. Robert Worthington, who handles protocol for the sponsoring Polynesian Voyaging Society, said departure ceremonies at Rarotonga were hosted by Queen Pa Ariki of Takitumu and her Mataiapos chiefs and their villages. The arrival in New Zealand will be hosted by the Waitangi Marae Trust with support from the northern tribes, New Zealand govemment, Department of Maori Affairs and the Royal New Zealand Navy. Worthington added that 50 Hawaii supporters will be at Waitangi for the arrival ceremonies in addition to a performing arts group from The Kamehameha Schools and representatives from the Office of Hawaiian Affairs. _