Newsletter--Ho'oilo 1996

From April 14 to April 20, twenty-six Wai'anae High School students from Susan Lum's Marine Science Learning Center voyaged around O'ahu with the Polynesian Voyaging Society. They sailed on board the coastal voyaging canoe Eala, built in Wai'anae and launched in 1980 at Poka'i Bay.

Students trained at Poka'i Bay and Maunalua Bay, where they camped at the Kaiser Estate (courtesy of Bishop Estate/KSBE) on the first night of their journey. Because of strong tradewinds, Eala was towed around Makapu'u and docked at Moku o Lo'e (Coconut Island), where students rejoined the canoe and stayed as guests of the Hawai'i Institute of Marine Biology (HIMB), a UH Manoa research facility. HIMB Director Gordon Grau and other researchers spoke to the students about careers in marine biology and current research on fish production and aquaculture, tiger shark and fish migrations, coral reproduction, and gender changes in reef fish such as the uhu (parrot fish) and hinalea (wrasse).

The next night the students camped at Kualoa, then sailed into Kahana Bay on April 17 to a welcome ceremony, lu'au, and arts and crafts presentations by the Kahana community and Kahuku High School students. One crew member commented: "I had tears in my eyes. What a great feeling to learn that Hawaiian people still care about all the Hawaiian ways."

From Kahana, the students sailed around Kahuku to Haleiwa Boat Harbor (April 18); then around Kaena Point to Makaha (April 19). That night Pi'ikea Miller of PVS taught them about navigation and stars.

On the final leg of their voyage--Makaha to Poka'i Bay--students took command of the canoe and sailed on their own. Four paddling canoes came out to greet them, and the Wai'anae community as well as the students' families welcomed the voyagers back home with a lunchtime lu'au.

One captain summed up their achievement: "It's a dream come true, learning how to work as a team and a crew, seeing how much we can work with each other and accomplish."