A young sailor’s voyage across the Pacific

A young sailor’s voyage across the Pacific on a traditionally designed canoe outfitted with modern, greener materials will be the focus of a presentation at 7 p.m. Tuesday at the Nawiliwili Yacht Club.

The public is invited to attend the presentation by Michael Kalei Velasco, a student member of the club. The presentation will include photos and a video at the yacht club at Nawiliwili Small Boat Harbor.

Velasco will arrive an hour early to answer questions from the public and yacht club members.

Velasco will describe his experience sailing from Nuku Hiva to Hawai‘i with a crew of men and women manning a fleet of traditional Polynesian voyaging canoes that made a stop at Hanalei Bay en route to its West Coast destination.

Solar-powered motors drove the seven Pacific Island canoes, or vakas, which utilized a fusion of both traditional and modern methods and materials as the fleet journeyed across thousands of miles of open ocean.

The canoes were built

following their ancestors’ designs, but more sustainable materials were incorporated to lessen the effect on the environment.

Fiberglass hulls replaced timber to protect the forests, and eight solar panels were attached to the back of each canoe to power the engines.

Natural gas was the only fossil fuel used, employed for the sole purpose of cooking. No running water was used.

During the epic journey, the crews followed the wake of their ancestors, using the stars, sun, wind and wildlife as their navigational guides.

The seven canoes, which began their journey last April, already have reached San Diego, Calif., where the crews will winter until later this month.

Then they resume their journey south to Cabo San Lucas in Mexico, Costa Rica’s Cocos Islands, the Galapagos Islands, the Marquesas and Tahiti before returning to their Pacific Island homes.

Visit www.pacificvoyagers.org for more information on the trip. Visit www.nawiliwiliyachtclub.org for more information about Velasco’s presentation.