HANALEI — The Polynesian Voyaging Society’s voyaging canoe Hokule‘a lays still in the waters of Hanalei Bay as the heavy, humid air stifled any movement from the boat. The canoe and its crew, and an escort boat, were to leave
HANALEI — The Polynesian Voyaging Society’s voyaging canoe Hokule‘a lays still in the waters of Hanalei Bay as the heavy, humid air stifled any movement from the boat.
The canoe and its crew, and an escort boat, were to leave for a journey of 1200 miles to the northwest of Kaua‘i on Friday, but now are expected to depart today, or Monday, depending on the return of northeast tradewind conditions.
The voyage is to provide a look at the string of atolls and islands that make up the Northwest Hawaiian Islands from a Polynesian perspective. The relatively nearby islands of Nihoa and Necker are believed to have cultural ties to Kaua‘i and Ni‘ihau and may have been bases for canoe-borne fishermen at one time.
Sailing aboard the canoe as crew are Kaua‘i Community College Hawaiian Studies instructor Dennis Chun and the Honolulu Advertiser’s Kaua‘i correspondent Jan TenBruggencate.
TenBruggencate is also the environmental writer for the Advertiser and is already posting reports in the Honolulu newspaper and online at a special Web page for the project which is being called “The Other Hawai‘i” by the Advertiser.
A makeshift base station has been set up on the lawn of the County of Kaua‘i’s Black Pot Beach Park at Hanalei Pier, and has been helping to provision the canoe and otherwise get it ready since it arrived from Honolulu last week. North Shore resident Cathy Ham Young-Pfeffer is helping and made arrangements for a re-delivery from the Esaki’s Produce delivery truck on Friday, among other chores.
The original delivery had to be returned to the Kapa‘a warehouse where it would be stored for another delivery closer to the new departure date of Sunday at noon, weather conditions permitting.
But, that problem had barely been solved when Ham Young-Pfeffer was faced with another as she immediately was on her cell phone — “these boys, they no mo’ mone’. This is the first time they gotta worry about fees,” her conversation continued. “You like I pay ‘em, and you reimburse me?”
The issue involved harbor fees, but through a series of phone calls, the matter was resolved.
Ham Young Pfeffer had “adopted” the sailing canoe since it arrived in the Bay earlier in the week, and while waiting on the members of the crew to arrive, had a complex system of hospitality in place.
A pa‘ina celebrating, not only the crew’s departure, but the birthdays of Bobo Ham Young and Kaimi Hermosura who just happened to have birthdays on Friday, the date most of the Hokule‘a’s crew will start arriving in Hanalei for the possible Sunday departure.
Dr. Cherie Shehata, one of the first crew members to arrive Friday afternoon, will be experiencing her first voyage aboard the Hokule‘a where she will serve as the ship’s doctor.
Dr. Shehata said they’ve been spending a lot of hours stocking the ship with supplies in preparation for the voyage which she will be a part of for the first leg, or three weeks through Midway.
During that time, her responsibility is to take care of any medical problems that may arise. That includes shipboard injuries as well as battling the common cold.
“It’s almost like a medical clinic,” Dr. Shehata explained about the technology that accompanies her aboard the canoe. “Most of Hokule‘a’s trips have had a doctor, or some medical personnel aboard.”
When Hokule‘a leaves Hanalei Bay, their next closest contact with civilization will be at the Frigate Shoals which Dr. Shehata estimates is about five days away necessitating the need for an on-board medical doctor.
As more members of the crew started to make their appearance, Ham Young-Pfeffer’s attention turned away from the moored Hokule‘a to the business of hosting the pa‘ina that night — “What time is the pig going to be done?”
The Garden Island editor Chris Cook contributed to this report.
