Wally Froiseth

Family: Married to Alice Keali'ipu'aimoku (Rosehill) on July 8, 1949; 50th anniversary in 1999.

Five children (1 boy, 4 girls), 10 grandchildren and 1 great grandchild.

Education

Graduated from 'Iolani School in 1938; attended the University of Hawai'i.

Employment

Present job - Pilot boat operator at Honolulu Harbor with the Hawaii Pilot's Assn.

Was on Johnston Island when WWII started and in Okinawa when it ended.

Volunteered for the Army during WWII but was put in the reserves and kept on my job operating harbor tugs throughout the war in the Pacific.

Spent a year on Eniwetak operating boats for contractors during the testing.

At end of WWII worked with the Navy Consolidated Fire Dept and retired as Chief of the Department.

Polynesian Voyaging Society / Volunteer

Voyages: 1986-Cook Islands to Tahiti; 1987-Tahiti to Rangiroa; 1992-Ra'iatea to Borabora to Cook Islands; 1995-Tahiti to Marquesas to Hawai'i.

Most memorable voyage on Hokule'a was with Nainoa, Mau, Bruce and Chad and others from Rarotonga to Tahiti (1986).

Because of friendship with Tommy Holmes and Ben Finney, two founders of the Polynesian Voyaging Society, got involved with the Hokule project at its start.

Personal

Enjoy all types of sports; Played football in high school and for Senior Barefoot with "Kalihi Thundering Heard."

Took up surfing at an early age and helped run the Makaha International Surfing Contests.

Paddled in and coached a number of Molokai to O'ahu canoe races including the first one with the Waikiki Surf Club.

Sailing: Sailed the catamaran Waikiki Surf with Rudy Choy and Woody Brown to California from Hawai'i in 1950's; Helped sail the staysail schooner Flying Cloud to West Coast from Hawai'i in 1949; Sailed the catamaran Aikane from California to Marquesas, Tuamotus and Tahiti in 1963.

Canoe Building: Enjoy wood working; Helped build, repair, and maintain the double hulled canoes Hokule'a, Hawai'iloa, and Eala; built 44-foot koa racing canoe Tutu.