The canoe was called "wa'a." "Wa'a kaukahi" was a single-hulled canoe; "wa'a kaulua" was a double-hulled canoe. The various parts of a canoe had the following names:
'aha: braided or twisted cord used in lashing the canoe, made of pulu-niu (coconut husk fiber), olona fiber, or hau (hibiscus bark fiber); 'aha-niu: cordage made of pulu-niu
'akea: hull of an outrigger canoe; starboard hull of a double canoe
ama: float on an outrigger canoe; port hull of a double canoe.
awa: harbor, port, cove; awa ku wa'a: canoe harbor or anchorage; awa pae: landing place
'eku: "snout" of the canoe, the prow, which digs into the ocean as the snout of a pig digs into the earth
halau wa'a: canoe house
heleuma: anchor
hoe: a paddle; to paddle
hoe uli: center steering paddle; hoe ama: port steering blade; hoe 'akea: starboard steering blade
'iako: arched crossbeams which fasten the floater (ama) to the hull in an outrigger canoe
iwikuamo'o: keel
iwi ka'ele: keel
ka'ele: canoe hull
kaula: line; kaule hau: hau (hibiscus) rope
kaula hope: backstay, or line from mast to stern
kaula huki: halyard, or line used to haul up the sail
kaula ihu: forestay; line from mast to bow.
kaula lana: mooring line
kaula luahine: lashing line running alongside the canoe (in the mo'o on Hokule'a) to which the pa'u or ahu (storm cover) is lashed
kaula pa'a: stay; line to secure the mast
kaula paepae: sheets (lines controlling the angle of the sail to the wind)
kaula pe'a: tricing line; used to open and close sail
kaula pu: shrouds (lines which stay the masts to each side of the vessel)
kaupo'i: median canoe-bow cover
kawelewele: ropes used to assist in righting a capsized canoe
ke'a: beams connecting the hulls of a double canoe
kia: mast; kia hope: aftermast; Hokule'a's was named "Heiau" by Chief Tofa in 1976; kia ihu: foremast Hokule'a's was named "Terikitu" by Chief Tofa in 1976.
ki'i: tiki, or carved image of a god; ki'i kane: the male tiki; ki'i wahine: the female tiki
ko wa'a: line for towing a canoe, or dragging a canoe hull down from the mountain forest where it was chopped down and rough hewn.
kua 'iako: portion of the 'iako lashed to the canoe hull
kuamo'o: hull; keel
kuapo'i: weatherboard
kumu kia: mast step; kumuhonua: base of mast step
kupe: curved endpieces covering the fore and aft parts of the hull; also called "manu"; kupe also means "to steer a canoe"
la: sail; la-hope: aftersail; la-ihu: foresail
lanalana: ornmamental lashing which binds the ama to the 'iako in an outrigger canoe
lei hulu: feather lei flown from the tip of the boom
liu: bilge, or inside bottom of the hull
lona: blocks on which a canoe rest when out of water
maka ihu: point at the bow end of a canoe
manu: curved endpieces covering the fore and aft parts of the hull; manu hope: back manu; manu ihu: forward manu
moamoa: point at the stern end of a canoe
mo'o: side planks fastened to the top edges of the hulls to increase the height of the sides of the canoe above the waterline
mouo: buoy
muku: the part of the 'iako or ke'a (crossbeams) which extends beyond the hull
niao: the rim of the hull
noho: seat
'o pe'a: spar, or sprit; on Hokule'a, the spar is fastened to the luff (leading edge) of the sail, and is drawn up to the mast by the halyards
'ope'ope: bundles, packages, baggage brought on board the canoe
paepae: boom; the spar to which the foot of the sail is fastened, and to which are fastened the sheets (lines for controlling the angle of the sail to the wind); the boom is raised and lowered with tricing lines
pale: barrier; pale-kai or pale-wai: splashguards, sideboards, or weatherboards, used to keep breaking waves or swells out of the hull; pale kana: safety railing along or around the deck
pa'u: storm covers which fit over the openings of the hulls
pe'a: sail; pe'a hope: aft-sail; pe'a ihu: foresail
pepeiao: "ear" or projections on the inside of the hull to hold the seats
pola: center platform or deck of a wa'a kaulua (double-hulled canoe); also called papahele
polena: forestay; "polena" also means "furled, as a sail is furled" (see kaula ihu).
pueo: shrouds
pukolu: a triple-hulled canoe
wae: spreader, used to keep the hulls of a canoe from collapsing inward
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