The Voyage to Rapa Nui

The Polynesian Voyaging Society (PVS) is currently conducting an expedition from Hawai'i to Rapa Nui and back. Hokule'a departed from Hilo, Hawai'i, on June 15, 1999, bound for Rapa Nui via the Marquesas Islands and Mangareva. Click here for a map with course lines. Hokule'a arrived in Nukuhiva, Marquesas Islands on July 13, 1999; it left Nukuhiva on Aug. 3 and arrived in Rikitea, Mangareva on August 29 after stopping at Ua Pou, Ua Huka, Tahuata, Fatu Hiva, and Hiva Oa in the Marquesas and Pitcairn Island; it departed for Rapa Nui in the afternoon on Sept. 21, stopped briefly on Pitcairn on Sept. 24, and sighted Rapa Nui just before dawn on Oct. 8; it departed from Rapa Nui on the afternoon of Nov. 9 and arrived in Pape'ete Tahiti on the evening of Dec. 3. Click here for maps with Hokule'a's tracks from (1) Hawai'i to the Marquesas, (2) the Marquesas to Mangareva, (3) Mangareva to Rapa Nui, and (4) Rapa Nui to Tahiti. Hokule'a will return to Hawai'i in January 2000. The 25th anniversary of the launching of Hokule'a will be celebrated in March, 2000, with activities at Kualoa Regional Park.

With the voyage to Rapa Nui, PVS has concluded a 25-year odyssey which began in 1975 with the launching of Hokule'a in Hakipu'u on the Windward Coast of O'ahu; since that time a quarter of a century ago, the canoe has sailed over 90,000 miles, across all the major migration and voyaging routes of Polynesia, from Hawai'i to Aotearoa to Rapa Nui. Click here for thoughts of the three navigators--Nainoa Thompson, Bruce Blankenfeld, and Chad Baybayan--on finding Rapa Nui and reaching the third corner of the Polynesian Triangle. Click here for reports from the previous voyages of Hokule'a (1976-1995).

Reports, Maps, and Photos from Previous Legs of the Quest for Rapa Nui

Leg 1: Hawai'i to Nukuhiva (June 15-July 13, 1999)./ Photos from the voyage to Nukuhiva.

Marquesan Interlude: Nukuhiva, Ua Pou, Ua Huka, Tahuata, Fatu Hiva, and Hiva Oa (July 31-August 14, 1999): Hokule'a visited communities on all six major islands of the Marquesas / Photos from the Marquesan Interlude (photos by Dennis Kawaharada and Nalani Wilson).

Leg 2:Hiva Oa to Mangareva (August 14-29, 1999)./ Photos from the voyage to Mangareva (photos by Moana Doi and Nalani Wilson).

Leg 3: Mangareva to Rapa Nui (Sept. 15-Oct. 8, 1999) / Photos from the Voyage to Rapa Nui (photos by Sam Low and Sonny Ahuna).

Leg 4: Rapa Nui to Tahiti (Nov. 9-Dec. 3, 1999) /Reports and Photos (photos by Na'alehu Anthony and Terry Hee).