Ka Wai Ola - Office of Hawaiian Affairs, Volume 33, Number 5, 1 May 2016 — Part Two: Crew Training [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

Part Two: Crew Training

by Lurline Wailana McGregor

Being a worthy sailor is only part of what is expected of a crewmember on Hōkūle'a's Mālama Honua Worldwide Voyage. Among other things, eaeh crewmember must make a personal commitment to study, to train, to embrace the mission of the voyage, and above all, to be able and willing to leave their families and jobs for a month and a half while they are away from home, volunteering their time and even their lives to carry out the enormous vision of the journey. Hōkūle'a left the Hawaiian Islands in 2014 on its Mālama Honua Worldwide Voyage to share its message of living sustainably with the rest of Island Earth. "Crew training started in 2009 with our voyaae to Palmyra,"

says Bruce Blankenfeld, crew training director for the voyage. "It was the first opportunity for a new generation of navigators, captains and crew members who have grown up around the vision of the eanoe to experience what it will take to sail around the world." The trip was not only

about learning to live at sea for a month, it also introduced the crew to the voyage's mission of caring for the earth and protecting its cultural and environmental resources. By the end of the voyage in 20 17, the leadership that started voyaging 41 years ago is expecting to pass the baton to the next generation to take over as leaders. Beginning with training for the Palmyra voyage, approximately 650 people have been through crew training as of March 2015. Most of the training has taken plaee on O'ahu at the Marine Education Training Center on Sand Island. Training has been held on neighbor islands as well, where crews had an opportunity to train on Hōkūle'a before she left for Tahiti on the first international leg of the Worlwide Voyage. Neighbor island trainees have also been able to Skype into O'ahu classroom training sessions and more recently, have been able to train on Hikianalia, Hōkūle'a's sister double hulled eanoe that returned home after the Paeihe portion of the Worldwide Voyage. From this number of individuals who have gone through training, there are approximately 400 candidates who are eligible to sail on the Worldwide Voyage. This includes potential crew members from around the Paeihe and Japan, most

of whom are boat eaptains and sailors and have sailed on Hōkūle'a on one of its previous voyages. Blankenfeld estimates that a total of approximately 400 people will have a ehanee to sail on the voyage, whieh is now over halfway completed, before Hōkūle'a returns to Hawai'i next year.

Classroom learning has covered such topics as oeean currents, weather, sailing knots, learning the functions and parts of the wa'a, the names of stars and constellations and how to navigate by them. Advanced training has included such physieal activities as treading water in the oeean for at least 20 minutes while putting on and taking off foul weather gear. Sailing time on the eanoe is critical to training as well, and training has included ovemight and longer trips to acclimate to being on the oeean, where crews practice putting up and taking down sails, tacking and steering during their four hour shifts. Crewmembers are trained to be able to carry out any task that needs to be performed at sea, especially including man overboard procedures. The Polynesian Voyaging Crew Training Manual states "100 percent of crew training is for about 5 percent of rough weather sailing." Potential crewmembers, who must be at least 20 years old, are expected to spend their own time learning and training in addition to the twice weekly classroom time and training sails. Blankenfeld urges everyone to 'imi 'ike, to eonhnue to seek knowledge outside of formal training time. This includes researching andreading such books

as The Complete Sailor, books that have been written about previous Hōkūle'a sails, and other books about wayfinding, like "East is a Big Bird: Navigation and Logic on Puluwat Atoll." Individual training also includes spending as

mueh time as possible doing other oeean activities, such as swimming, eanoe paddling, surfing or sailing. Candidates must be physically fit and in good heahh so they will be able to pass a fitness test that includes mnning one mile in 15 minutes; swimming one mile in open oeean in 90 minutes, doing 20 push ups, 10 dips and other strength and flexibility tests. "Onee someone is selected to be a crew member, training goes into overdrive for a

month or two prior to their leg," says Blankenfeld. Besides training to heeome proficient sailors, eaeh member of the 12-member crew is assigned a kuleana, or area for whieh they will have primary responsibility. The different kuleana include apprentice navigator, rescue swimmer, fisher, quartermaster, eook, spiritual/protocol leader, documenter, safety (medical) officer, carpenter and environmental/ ecology expert, to name a few. Eaeh crewmember must additionally learn the protocol, including oli andkāhea to introduce themselves and Hōkūle'a. They learn how to interact cross-culturally with their host peoples and how to act at the level of professionalism that is expected of them from the time they leave Hawai'i or their home base to the time they return home. After their leg has been completed, crew members are expected to give back to the community by sharing their experiences and knowledge through educational programs and opportunities as they arise. Three years after the Palmyra trip, Hōkūle'a went into dry dock for 15 months. Training didn't stop during this time, instead, crew members heeame an integral part of taking the eanoe apart and rebuilding it from the bottom up and inside and out, removing every rotten spot. "The overall picture of voyaging is putting the eanoe together and making it healthy and eapahle of doing the heavy lifting we expect," Blankenfeld explains. "All the love and aloha the crew put in during the 15 months of drydock will carry her for another 30 years. She is solid." Next month: Educational Outreach ■

Lwīine Waūana McGregor is a writer, teīevision producer and author o/Between the Deep Blue Sea and Me.

BEHIND THE SCENES OF MĀLAMA HONUA WORLDWIDE VOYAGE

CULTURE

Extensive preparation is needed before crew members ean join Hōkūle'a's Mālama Honua Worldwide Voyage. In addition to learning how to live on the sea for a month, they also learn about the voyage's message of sustainable living. - Photos: Courtesy 'Oiwi /V