Hōkūleʻa Wayfinding: When Journey Becomes Destination
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| Hōkūleʻa Crew Sailing for more than 3 Years in this Edition without Modern Technology on Ancient Canoes |
When you have been sailing the kind of boat they have been sailing, for as long as they have been sailing it, it is no longer about the Journey, it is a Way of Life. This method of Sailing has no start point nor destination, no finish lines nor final port, the Journey itself is the Alpha and the Omega. The Journey is Destination.
Maui Now reported on February 10 that Hōkūleʻa had Set Sail for Rapa Nui. The last time Hōkūleʻa was in Rapa Nui it was 1999. But Hōkūleʻa has been sailing much longer than that it first hoisted sails back in 1976. Similar boats have been sailing thousands of years before modern Civilization knocked on our door!
“The crew of Hawaii’s legendary Polynesian voyaging canoe Hōkūleʻa set sail for Rapa Nui, also known as Easter Island (Chile), continuing its Worldwide Voyage and Malama Honua -Global Movement to Care for Earth,” Maui Now reported.
“Heading to Rapa Nui, Hōkūleʻa carries the invaluable lessons of global sustainability that were learned and shared at other UNESCO World Heritage sites such as the Galapagos Islands,” Nainoa Thompson -President of Polynesian Voyaging Society added. “In addition to being a recognized global resource by organizations such as UNESCO, Rapa Nui signifies a major cultural return for Polynesian navigation and our Worldwide Voyage as we re-enter the Polynesian triangle, the birthplace of our Wayfinding Heritage.”
For those who do not know the story the Hōkūleʻa double canoe is designed and inspired by ancient double-hulled Polynesian canoes used for thousands of years to explore and spread the Polynesian´s way of life across the Pacific Ocean.
Hōkūleʻa was officially launched in 1975-6 by the Polynesian Voyaging Society. SInce then she has used nothing but traditional ways of sailing know as “Wayfinding”.
Wayfindings techniques kept alive through the generations by legends, stick maps, songs and stories, legends and drum beats are still today very effective at sea. Some experienced sailors argue that Sailing in the modern World has become too dependent on modern technology -GPS and navigation instruments. “Without them most of today's sailors would be lost at sea,” the experts argue. The same experts press for the ancient arts of sailing to be well kept alive and restudied to avoid putting the art of sailing in real extinction mode.
On February 12 Hōkūleʻa streamed on Facebook a breathtaking video report and Cruise log…“Hawaii is one of the most remote places on this Planet...in the open Ocean there are no landmarks...Hawaii was discovered by Canoes, no GPS, no technology...Just Pure Nature...and that is what we are doing today,” Master Crew aboard the Hōkūleʻa explained while the sails set north to Rapa Nui.
Polynesian voyaging canoes were a mode of transportation and discovery and just like them the Hōkūleʻa has no metals, no screws, only wood and ropes, no motors, no navigation equipment. Still they have managed to not only cross the Oceans but thrive while doing so.
Hōkūleʻa continues to use ancestral routes which serve perfectly for Mastered experienced Sailors to pass on their knowledge to the new Generation of Sailors. Nothing like real experience.
Thousands of hours at open sea with no land at sight with only the waves continually drumming on the ship on a hot sunny day or even more under a clouded sky can be little more than just confusing. How does the crew of Hōkūleʻa manage to find course?
Their answer; “the Sun, the Stars and the Swells”. “When the day is clouded and the Sun is out of sight we use Swell Patterns to determine one Cardinal Point -it is more difficult than doing it with the Sun, but once you have one Point (Cardinal) you have the rest,” they explained.
Over the miles new generations of sailors have already memorized over 200 Stars of different Hemisphere sky patterns -a task that is remarkable to say the least.
Today there are numerous movements around the World including Professional Regattas which are switching back to competition mode without the use of modern technology. Sailors who really sail assure that true sailing is found in this way of sailing. GPS and technology may malfunction but the Sun, the Swells, the Stars are constant. Where some feel lost others hoist sails and steer the rudder.
The first Voyage of the Movement in 1976 proved that over 2000 miles of Ocean could be sailed using ancient traditional ways of sailing. But today they people aboard the Canoe have more than just sailing in mind. Undertaking the vast oceans and immense star-filled night ocean skies brings a profound life-changing experience, most crew members agree.
Besides Sailing they proudly want to carry a message. “On a canoe, water, food, plants, and other basic needs are in limited supply and are tended to with great care; so too we must tend to our resources on islands, and for all of Island Earth,” Hōkūleʻa says.
“Malama Honua is simply translated as “to Care for our Island Earth”, but the Hawaiian language is beautiful and complex. Malama Honua means to take care of and protect everything that makes up our world: land, oceans, living beings, our cultures, and our communities. It means learning from the lessons of islanders to take care of your limited resources, as though you were living on a canoe in the open ocean or an island in the middle of the sea,” the Movement Manifesto reads.
“As we voyage Around the World, we are discovering and sharing stories of hope that help us understand how indigenous and local wisdom can guide us in solving some of the greatest challenges we face as a global society today,” they add.
When the Polynesian Voyaging Society was first founded they initiated with the aim of perpetuating the art and science of traditional Polynesian voyaging and the spirit of exploration. Back then Polynesian Canoes in Hawaii were almost extinct. The Society wanted to bring back to life a history of sailing of over 2000 years or more. For them it was a history of their own past, a story that was almost lost. The environmental aspect was present then but took greater strength as Voyages spread through the decades.
“The canoes that brought the first Hawaiians to their island home had disappeared from earth. Cultural extinction felt dangerously close to many Hawaiians when artist Herb Kane dreamed of rebuilding a double-hulled sailing canoe similar to the ones that his ancestors sailed. Though more than 600 years had passed since the last of these canoes had been seen, this dream brought together people of diverse backgrounds and professions. Since she was first built and launched in the 1970s, Hokule’a continues to bring people together from all walks of life. She is more than a voyaging canoe -she represents the common desire shared by the people of Hawaii, the Pacific, and the World to protect our most cherished values and places from disappearing,” the Society explains.
Since it touched waters in 1976 Hōkūleʻa has sailed over 140 thousand nautical miles.
Maui News reported on January 29 on what it is like still today to sail aboard the Hōkūleʻa.
“Three years after embarking on a journey Around the Globe, Hawaii’s World-Famous Voyaging Canoe is almost home. In June 2017, Hokule’a will return to the islands after more than 60,000 nautical miles and 100 ports in the South Pacific, Africa, the Caribbean, the East Coast and South America,” Maui News reported.
Crew Member Kawika Crivello of Molokai spoke the media on what will be the end of the port in 2017. “It’s not the end of the voyage. When Hokule’a comes home, the work begins.”
Another crew member Archie Kalepa from Maui -despite being experienced at Sea before sailing aboard Hokule’a told the press that it was like nothing “he’d ever seen in his life.”
“The colors I saw, it was like ‘Avatar,’ Kalepa said. Kalepa highlighted new insights gained on sailing using stormed weather, temperature and swell changes and glowing algae which lighted up the sea.
“The whole thing is about educating ourselves, and being in that kind of atmosphere, it will be an eye-opening experience, I’m sure, to see how an untouched marine life flourishes,” Kalepa said before reaching Galapagos -Marine Protected Area MPA as well as National Park and UNESCO World Heritage Location.
“When we’re out in a little canoe like that in a big ocean, things get awoken within you, which is your senses,” Kalepa said. “You pay attention to those little details on the water and the canoe. Just having the confidence to navigate ourselves through that kind of weather . . . is part of what kept us safe.”
From the Galapagos the Canoe headed to Rapa Nui. In mid 2017 after sailing 150 ports for over 3 years the crew will reach home Hawaii. A historical homecoming ceremony is expected at Magic Island.
But by now most know that the Journey has become Destination and it will continue this way hopefully for another 1 thousand years or more as it has been for traditional Wayfinding Sailing -the way in which humans have sailed, explored, discovered and not survived -but lived since sailing began.
“Last night as we sailed, Nainoa asked me, “What are the main challenges facing this place? What are the lessons that can help the rest of the World navigate?”
My first instinct was to rattle off the list of conservation challenges – illegal, unreported and unregulated fishing; climate change; pollution etc. – the many things plaguing all of our oceans. But those aren’t the problems, they are the symptoms of deeper issues we face… symptoms of human beings increasingly becoming separated from nature, of short-term thinking, of privileging economic gain over ecological and human health which leave a vastly inequitable reality and future both people and the planet,” Crewmember and Senior Vice-President for Oceans at Conservation International CI Aulani Wilhelm logged.
“The winds have been challenging today – we have had to adjust our course many times to travel downwind and remain focused on our destination. These lessons from sailing hold true for protecting our oceans. The first step, however, is being clear about our destination,” Wilhem kicked it.
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