Discover

'Hōkūlea' is a performance-accurate full-scale replica of a wooden sailing vessel (Polynesian voyaging canoe) used in ancient Hawaii. Its name means "star of gladness" in Hawaiian, and the name refers to the star Arcturus, a guiding zenith star for Hawaiian navigators, which falls directly overhead at Hawaii's latitude.

It was built in 1975 by the Polynesian Voyaging Society, and is best known for its 1976 voyage from Hawaii to Tahiti, performed without modern navigational instruments. Since then ''Hōkūlea'' has completed seven voyages to various destinations in Polynesia and the United States, all using ancient wayfinding techniques of celestial navigation.
On January 19, 2007, ''Hokule'a'' left Hawaii with the voyaging canoe ''Alingano Maisu'' on a voyage to Micronesia and Japan. The voyage was expected to take five months. When it is not on a voyage, ''Hōkūlea'' is moored at the Hawaii Maritime Center in Honolulu Harbor.
On June 9, 2007 ''Hokule'a'' arrived in Japan.

Contents

List of voyages

See also

External links

List of voyages

★ 1976: ''Hōkūlea'', led by captain Kawika Kapahulehua and Satawalese navigator Mau Piailug, traveled from Hawaii to Tahiti and back.

★ 1978: A second attempted voyage to Tahiti was aborted when the canoe swamped south of the island of Molokai. Eddie Aikau is lost at sea on this voyage.

★ 1980: Native Hawaiian Navigator Nainoa Thompson recreated the 1976 voyage, becoming the first Native Hawaiian in modern times to guide a canoe without instruments.

★ 1985: Known as the 'Voyage of Rediscovery', ''Hōkūlea'' traveled a total distance of 16,000 miles to various destinations in Polynesia.

★ 1992: ''Hōkūlea'' sailed to Rarotonga and back via Tahiti. The voyage included an educational component where Hawaii students could track the progress of the canoe through daily radio reports.

★ 1995 spring: ''Hōkūlea'', along with sister ships ''Hawaiiloa'' and ''Makalii'', sailed from Hawaii to the Marquesas Islands and back via Tahiti.

★ 1995 summer: ''Hōkūlea'' and ''Hawaiiloa'' sailed the West Coast of the United States from Seattle to San Diego.

★ 1999: ''Hōkūlea'' sailed from Hawaii to Rapa Nui and back.

★ 2004: ''Hōkūlea's'' most recent voyage took place in June 2004, when navigator Thompson led a training voyage through the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands.

★ 2007: Accompanied by the canoe ''Alingano Maisu'', ''Hokule'a'' sailed from Hawaii to the Federated States of Micronesia. While on the island of Satawal, the crew of the ''Hokule'a'' presented the ''Alingano Maisu'' to Mau Piailug as a gift for his role in helping to revive traditional wayfinding navigation in Hawaii. From there, the ''Hokule'a'' sailed to various ports in Japan.

See also

★ Hawaii

★ Hawaiiloa

★ Makalii

★ Polynesian Navigation

★ Polynesian Voyaging Society

★ Ship replica (including a list of ship replicas)

External links

★ Polynesian Voyaging Society website

★ PVS website on the building of Hōkūlea

★ Uncle Charlie's personal website on Hōkūlea, by Charles Kauluwehi Maxwell Sr.

★ ''Honolulu Advertiser'' Hōkūlea Voyage Special