Hokule'a visits Lana'i

by Kaliko Amona, Malama Hawai'i Education Intern

Hokule'a visited Lana¹i during the last week of January. During the week, almost all of the students from Lana'i High and Elementary School got a chance to visit the canoe. In addition to the canoe tours, students went through three other stations:

(1) Navigation Techniques and the Star Compass Students navigated a course to Tahiti according to changing wind conditions.

(2) Provisioning the Canoe Here, students selected and packed items they would take on a thirty-day voyage. Some kindergarteners even tried to pack a Razor Scooter into their class's cooler/suitcase!

(3) Canoe Building Traditions and Native Plants At this station, students learned of the plants that are important to making canoes and why we must Malama Hawai'i.

On two evenings during our stay, we had "talk story" sessions with the public. During dinner we screened the film "The Navigators" and later did a star watch on the canoe with Sol Kaho'ohalahala. One of the highlights of my stay on Lana'i was going up to Kanepu'u Preserve. The Nature Conservancy and Hui Malama Pono o Lana'i (one of Hokule'a's hosts) are stewards for this area where endangered plants like na'u and 'iliahi grow.

On Saturday January 27, the crew left Manele Bay for Lahaina, Maui. During the short trip, we saw several whales breeching, sometimes very close to us! At Lahaina Na Opio paddlers and others from the Maui community greeted us from the beach.

In the two weeks that we were in Lahaina, over a thousand children visited Hokule'a with their schools and families. Now that we¹re in Ma'alaea, we¹re even busier, with over 200 students coming every day! The strong winds are keeping us cool and have brought some much-needed rain to the island. We're just hoping they calm down a little so that we can sail over the weekend!