Being aboard the Hōkūleʻa is like “camping in the middle of the ocean,” said Lucy Lee, a member of the crew and the volunteer coordinator for the Polynesian Voyaging Society.
“It just reminds you how simple life really can be,” she said. “Showering is take a bucket of water, put soap on and rinse it off. Sleeping in a sleeping bag. Those sorts of things — it just really reminds you how luxurious our daily lives are and how simple it all can be. It’s challenging in some ways but in other ways it makes you appreciate your daily commodities a lot more: hot water, cold drinking water.”
Lee got her first taste of sailing aboard the Hōkūleʻa after taking a class on voyaging and celestial navigation at Kamehameha Schools. On Feb. 4, she was showing school children the voyaging canoe she called home while out on the open ocean.
Hōkūleʻa has sailed about 250,000 nautical miles, she said. Lee has sailed about 4,000 nautical miles. That includes a sail to Tahiti, as well as legs of the Moananuiākea Voyage, where she was part of the crew when it traveled to parts of Alaska and California.
The voyaging canoe will celebrate its 50th birthday on March 8. Currently, Hōkūleʻa is completing the final stops of its Pae ʻĀina Statewide Sail. It is at Ko Olina through Feb. 5, Pōkaʻī Bay from Feb. 6 to 8 and Maunalua Bay from Feb. 9 to 14 before it heads to Hilo, according to Hōkūleʻa’s website. At many of the ports, between 500 and 1,000 school kids are getting a chance to see Hōkūleʻa and meet members of its crew, Lee said.
This summer, when Hōkūleʻa leaves to repeat its Moananuiākea Voyage around the world, it won’t return to Hawaiʻi waters again until 2028.
When asked to pick a favorite voyage, Lee was hesitant to pick just one as there is “more to come,” she said.
“I think that all voyages that you go on are super unique, and there's magical moments and very trying moments, like any other thing in life,” she said. “I think for me, one of maybe my favorite [voyages] was when I had the opportunity to sail to Papahānaumokuakea, the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands. It was my first deep sea voyage, the longest I had been away from land and especially with the type of isolation that you get within voyaging, right? You have no contact outside of whoever is on the canoe with you, so it was my first real experience with that.”
The crew uses a variety of methods to navigate, including the stars, sun, wind and swells, she said.
“I think the stars are probably the most glorified,” she said. “But there’s a lot of different things that you have to be observant of. If you could only use the stars, you’d be lost a large portion of the day.”
The nonprofit Nā Kama Kai, which was founded by professional surfer Duane DeSoto and teaches kids about ocean safety, conservation and stewardship, will be hosting events including stargazing and sailing for keiki at Pōkaʻī Bay Beach Park in honor of Hōkūleʻa’s visit. For more information about the events on Friday, Feb. 7 and Saturday, Feb. 8, go here.
Katie Helland can be reached at katie@alohastatedaily.com.
