Apr. 6, 2016

Contributed by Shaundor Chillingworth

Since leaving the Caribbean, Hōkūleʻa has made its way to and through the interior waterways of Florida. Since first touching the continental U.S. in Everglades National Park, the crewmembers have been connecting with schools, Native American peoples and maritime communities in Florida. She has crossed Lake Okeechobee and made her way to where she is currently docked in Titusville, FL.   

The Hōkūleʻa crew were welcomed by The Council of the Original Miccosukee Simanolee Nation Aboriginal Peoples in a sacred ceremony honoring the Voyage. Following this sacred ceremony, the Seminole Tribe of Florida and the Everglades National Park Service hosted a welcoming ceremony at the Gulf Coast Visitor Center, where the public was invited to meet the crew and learn about the Mālama Honua Worldwide Voyage.

 "We thought it would be most appropriate to have Hōkūlea's arrival into the U.S. mainland take place where we could honor and pay respect to the area's native people and to our National Park Service," said Nainoa Thompson, Pwo navigator and president of Polynesian Voyaging Society.

"This arrival represents two key pillars of our voyage, which are to connect with other indigenous cultures and to discover the efforts of our environmental mission partners such as the National Park Service, which is celebrating its Centennial."

Following Florida, the crew will travel up the east coast making several stops including South Carolina, North Carolina and Virginia, where PVS will celebrate Earth Day with the Mariner's Museum in Newport News, offering canoe tours and dockside outreach to the public. Additional engagement stops in Virginia include Yorktown and Tangier Island, where the crew will focus on many of the environmental issues affecting the Chesapeake Bay and the efforts to protect the country's largest watershed. From there, the iconic canoe will arrive at the nation's capital by sailing down the Potomac River and docking at the Washington Canoe Club.  

After spending about a week in Washington DC, Hōkūleʻa will sail to New York City, where she will be a focal point at World Oceans Day events hosted by the United Nations on June 8, 2016. The theme of this year's World Oceans Day is Healthy Oceans, Healthy Planet. While in New York City, Hōkūleʻa will also participate in the Hawaiian Airlines Liberty Challenge, which is the east coast's largest Pacific Islands festival and one of the world's most competitive outrigger races. Hōkūleʻa is expected to depart New York City on June 18, for several engagements in the New England area.

KS Senior Program Manager Mark Ellis is one of the crewmembers on leg 19 of the voyage and wrote the following blog entry about preparing and planning for that next leg of the voyage.

Preparation and planning for a voyage has always been key. Under the leadership of pwo navigator Bruce Blankenfeld, crew members of Leg 19 of the Worldwide Voyage have been actively preparing to take Hōkūle’a into the Intercoastal Waterway (ICW) an inland waterway along the Atlantic coast of the continental United States, which includes natural inlets, saltwater rivers, bays and sounds and artificial canals.

Captain Bruce shared with the crew the plan for taking Hōkūle’a and crew safely thru the ICW. Sailing on the ICW will be a little different for Hōkūle’a, among other things we will only traverse the waterway during daylight hours, thus we will be docking or anchoring nightly. As a result Captain Bruce has stressed the importance of knots, line handling and overall good seamanship. During a recent crew training session, crew members practiced throwing line to simulate getting Hōkūle’aʻs line to our escort vessel or docks. We also worked on securing our vessels to various anchor points (cleats, rings, etc.).

One of the scheduled stops for this Leg of the Voyage is Charleston, South Carolina. Hōkūle’a and crew members will participate and present at the Charleston Outdoor Fest (April 15-17, 2016) hosted by the Charleston County Park & Recreation Commission. The Charleston Outdoor Fest is an annual event for people of all ages to come together to learn and share their knowledge of nature’s playground.

During this Leg of the voyage, Hōkūle’a and her crew will sail along the coasts of Florida, Georgia, South Carolina, North Carolina and Virginia. Please continue to follow us on hokulea.com as we share stories from the deck of the canoe, and communities we visit along the way up the East Coast!

The next scheduled stop for the voyage is on April 14th in Charleston, SC.

 

Since departing Hawaiian waters in May 2014, Hokulea has sailed more than 21,500 nautical miles and made stops in 12 countries and 55 ports, weaving a "Lei of Hope" around the world. For a midway recap of the Worldwide Voyage, please view http://www.hokulea.com/2015-worldwide-voyage-recap/.

For more information about the Polynesian Voyaging Society and the Worldwide Voyage, visit www.hokulea.com or find the society on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, YouTube and Google+. To see more Wa‘a Wednesday stories and much more about the Mālama Honua Voyage, go to the KS Online Mālama Honua page.

The Hōkūleʻa has been traveling up the Okeechobee River through Florida.

Upon arrival in Everglades National Park, the crew spent time with Council of the Original Miccosukee Simanolee Nation Aboriginal Peoples.

The crew departed Key West, FL on March 25, and has been traveling through the Okeechobee River since arriving at Everglades on March 26.

Throughout their Florida visit, crew members have been connecting with schools and maritime communities to spread the message of Mālama Honua.