Log entry by Ka‘iulani Murphy, apprentice navigator on the Hokule‘a. Monday, Feb. 5 Aloha ‘aina. The crew was happy to see Johnston Island early this afternoon. Bruce is awesome. We first saw the large building on the main island, and
Log entry by Ka‘iulani Murphy, apprentice navigator on the Hokule‘a.
Monday, Feb. 5
Aloha ‘aina. The crew was happy to see Johnston Island early this afternoon. Bruce is awesome. We first saw the large building on the main island, and then the ironwood trees emerged above the horizon. As we get closer, more of the small islands rise out of the sea and we watch attentively for waves breaking on shallow reef. More boobies accompany us as we sail at a comfortable 4 to 5 knots, along with the occasional ‘iwa, manu o ku, ewaewa, and koa‘e ‘ula. The clouds are finally lifting, after a cloudy morning and night.
Even though most of us have been on deep-sea voyages before, we still are amazed at the beauty of wayfinding. Bruce navigated us right to Johnston, despite all the weather challenges we have faced. Along with the skill of our navigator and captain, we all acknowledge the mana of Hokule‘a. We are just the hands that help her get to where she needs to go.
Last night before sunset we caught a good-sized mahimahi, the first bull of all the nine mahimahi. Timi cut half of the i’a for us and tied the other half to a bucket to float it back to the crew of Maisu. Russell cooked the Orzo pasta again with sun-dried tomatoes and mahimahi. I must say, we do eat well out here …
Mahalo nui for all your work.
Malama,
Ka’iulani
