HILO — Voyagers have arrived in Hilo from Tahiti, using nature as their travel guide.
HILO — Voyagers have arrived in Hilo from Tahiti, using nature as their travel guide.
A group of 16 used a traditional voyaging canoe, the Fa‘a Faite, with traditional sailing methods — and arrived in Hilo from Tahiti in 17 days.
“We had good weather, good wind, good swell, too,” said Jean-Claude Teriierooiterai, navigator-in-training and president of Tahiti Voyaging Society.
Tahitian Matahi Tutavae, also a navigator-in-training, said the Polynesian Voyaging Society has tracked progress of Fa‘a Faite and another boat that has circumnavigated the globe — the Hokule‘a. Faafaite is now awaiting the arrival of its sister canoe, Okeanos.
Once Okeanos arrives, Fa‘a Faite and Okeanos will set sail for Honolulu to celebrate the arrival of the Hokule‘a.
Lehua Kamalu, who shared her navigation knowledge on the way to Hilo on Fa‘a Faite, said there were virtually no “pwo” (master navigators) left in the 1970s when people became interested in trying to build the Hokule‘a as close to the way a boat would have been built hundreds of years ago as possible. A solitary pwo was found in Micronesia and he taught a few others to become pwo.
There are about five in Hawaii who were trained by him, and 11 total worldwide.
In Micronesia, sailing was still done with traditional methods. Although that last remaining pwo is no longer alive, the Polynesian Voyaging Society has been working since the 70s to encourage interest in instrument-free ocean navigation using traditionally designed boats like Fa‘a Faite.
Now, these navigators-in-training are sailing with “the wind and the waves and the stars and all of nature’s signs,” Kamalu said.
Their sailing has reignited interest in traditional practice in Hawaii as well as Tahiti, Micronesia and New Zealand.
Crew members take “watches” so that there’s always someone adjusting sails to match wind changes.
Teriierooiterai said when the air is calm, there’s no power to keep the Fa‘a Faite moving.
But, he said, “for us, we are lucky. The wind was low only two days.”
The group averaged more than 150 miles a day during the 2,600-mile journey.
At 5:30 p.m. Tuesday, the Hokule‘a was 790 miles from Honolulu.
After the homecoming celebration June 17 on Oahu at Magic Island, a summit will be held from June 18 to 20 in Honolulu with inspirational speakers for youth and adults.
Email Jeff Hansel at jhansel@hawaiitribune-herald.com.