Young sailors from Hokule’a reflect on last training sail to Papahanaumokuakea

In preparation for its six-year trip to Moananuiakea to circumnavigate the Pacific, launched in May, the Polynesian Voyaging Society has begun the process of training its next generation of navigators and sailors.

The organization’s recent training navigation to Papahanaumokuakea immersed five young sailors in instrumentless navigation and the cultural and ecological significance of the remote region they visited, while fostering mutual trust and respect for the people. other crew members.

Papahanaumokuakea’s eight-day sail, which left the Sand Island Maritime Education Training Center in mid-June, included five stages on the high seas. The trip, themed “Sailing the Kupuna Islands,” tasked the young sailors – Nalamaku Ah Sing, Jonah Apo, Kai Hoshijo, Lucy Lee and Dillyn Lietzke – to sail the Hokulea and Hikianalia travel canoes to Nihoa, Mokumanamana and Lalo (French Frigate Shoals), located in the group of low lying islands and atolls northwest of the main Hawaiian Islands.

It was Lietzke’s maiden voyage, resulting in mixed feelings of excitement and nervousness.

“I was already a little nervous about adjusting to life on the waa (travel canoe) because it would be something new for me, then I found out that we were going to be sailing for a game and I was like, “Oh my god,” she said. “I just had to get into the right headspace and remember the workout.”

The first-time travelers trained together for over a year before embarking on the journey, helping out in dry docks and studying boating calculations, boating safety and more. According to PVS President Nainoa Thompson, sailing to Nihoa from Niihau is like finding an island half the size of Diamond Head in the open sea.

While the development of navigation skills was one of the main goals of Papahanaumokuakea sailing, another was to strengthen the bond between sailors.

“We really rely on each other, and I think that’s why we’ve been so specific. It’s not necessarily because we studied very hard, ”Hoshijo said. “I think the Nihoa race was really a testament to how well we work together and how much we really love each other as friends, and how that can be worn in the future.”

According to Apo, some of the sailors have known each other for years before they started training.

“I think the way we treated each other (and) the way we worked together has helped us a lot to be successful,” said Apo. “I think one of the main reasons we found (Nihoa) so precise was just because of the way we really came together and we really focused and put all of our energies in the same direction. “

For Lee, working with the other four interns and being a part of the next generation of PVS Navigators is “unbelievably awesome.”

“I am so inspired to know that we are starting together and that we will all evolve in so many different directions, but the only thing that will unite us will be to learn the skills of navigation and to be linked and connected by the waa and the ocean, ”Lee said.

While in Lalo, thanks to a partnership between PVS and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, the mariners and crew participated in the region’s first underwater survey since Hurricane Walaka hit in 2018, observing the beginnings of natural regeneration of the coral reef following destruction.

“Seeing how alive all the ecosystems were underwater, and just all the marine life and birds, and just seeing a place so pristine and untouched by humans was a really cool experience that you can’t get a lot of. ‘places,’ Lietzke said. “I think it really touched me and made me realize how big an impact we have on our environment here.”

In addition to exploring the environmental significance of Papahanaumokuakea, the trip highlighted the cultural significance of the region.

“I think it was really a huge thing to be able to go to Hokule’a and with Hikianalia and bridge that connection between science and cultural practices in such a sacred space,” Lietzke said. “While going, I definitely took my kupuna with me and always kept those who came before me in mind.”

While the Papahanaumokuakea Voyage was primarily aimed at training young sailors on PVS’s Moananuiakea Voyage, which will stop over in countries and archipelagos in Asia, North and South America and the Pacific, interns envision new ocean adventures and , ultimately, pass on their knowledge to future generations.

“I think when you learn this type of sailing knowledge you have a responsibility to keep passing it on,” Apo said. “I think it’s really important to make sure that in every generation that comes along there is a bunch of Hawaiians who are learning to sail and keeping the art alive.”