Come Sail Away

Polynesian Voyaging Science 160 Lab

Manu ihu 'O Ho'omana'o ka hulina alo i waho Kualoa

Windward Community College offers a Polynesian voyaging class every other year in conjunction with a surf science class for Hawaiian Studies science credit. 

    This class began with an idea suggested by Pinky Thompson, Nainoa Thompsonʻs father, to the WCC Chancellor and board, which led to the first full fledged traditional Polynesian voyaging college course that produced many of the first Hokuleʻa crew members. The class was taught by Nainoa Thompson and it was considered a very rigorous and prestigious class at the time it was popular because of the resurgence of Hawaiian culture and practices, known as the Hawaiian renaissance. Students were required to swim 500 yards and tread 30 minutes off of Port Lock, they had to remember every star sign to itʻs degree and declination. WCC gave the class grant money to support the heavy class load and it was used to buy three sailing canoe: Hoʻomanaʻo, Kilo ʻOpua, and then Noa. Hoʻomanaʻo was the fastest of itsʻ kind and won first place in the Kualoa Bay race after the same name for many years. It was stored on the neighboring Kualoa Ag. land a mile off of the Kualoa beach park. The name Hoʻomanaʻo is to cause or to remember, it is a call for those who sail with her to be invoked with knowledge of the past. Kilo ʻOpua, the second canoe, is currently in dry dock at Sand Island for major repairs after an accident that punctured the hull and mast. Kilo ʻOpua is the cloud gazer or more accurately "observer of the clouds on the horizon" which is symbolic to Hawaiian navigation as looking to the future. For when you look to the horizon, the clouds you see tell you whats beyond them and how the form is an indication of what is ahead as well as what will be next.

Finally, Noa, the third canoe, is a small, four-man sailing canoe that is the newest of all three. It is stored off the beach at Lanikai with the rest of Lanikai Canoe Clubs waʻa. Noa means freedom, to be free of restriction or limitation. Not only in physically bound form, also as internal means of your mind, to be clear of inhibitions and in terms of temporal reality, we are not confined to the past or set in stone in the future. We are free in the current of space time which is right now, we are Noa. 

Over the years, class enrollment has declined dramatically, even though people respond genuinely intrigued by the class, weʻve yet to see an increase in referrals. I had heard about the class through the grapevine, after searching through the classes offered at WCC (as you do when youʻre a curious freshman) and asking my counselor for more info. Actually, Kumu Ian Masterson was my Pacific Island Studies teacher two semesters ago and he was the first to bring my attention and eagerness for island culture and paddling toward this class. All I heard was "Hey, you know you can paddle for science credit", "Learn to sail for a lab", "You would be at the beach anyway!". I was sold on the name of the class alone. I mean, it is a paddlers course; for paddlers, by paddlers, learning how to be a better paddler! What more could you want!

Our crew: Nikki Kamalu, Daniel and Mike Uslan, Elizabeth Ratliff, Rachel Ma'osi, Kumu Leimomi Dierks, & Kumu Ian Masterson

I didnʻt know what to expect on my first sail, I had never been on a sailing canoe, let alone seen one. Just being able to come touch and talk about sailing was worth the trip to Kualoa beach park at a bright and early 8 am. The water was straight glass on the way over. The class met up at Kumu Leiʻs truck and talked story about how the day would go and canoe anatomy. Then carpooled with Kumu Ian down to where Hoʻomanaʻo was stored and paddled it back up to the beach. There we rigged and learned which knots go where, how each rig works and what it does/what we need it to do. Then we set up the boat with our gear, safety equipment, and paddles, finally ready to go.

In honor of Queen Liliuokalani's' 176th birthday

 Luckily, I had been practicing Haku/lei making in my hula ʻolapa and I was able to prepare two lei for our first voyage. This Saturday was no ordinary day, it happened to fall on September 2nd which is Queen Liliʻuokalani, our last reigning Moʻi wahineʻs, birthday. The kaona of what we were doing was apparent to me and it felt like it needed acknowledging. The crew gathered at the manu ihu and Kumu Lei offered her pule as well as E Ho Mai with beautiful manaʻo. Then I laid the lei on the manu ihu and manu hope with a He Mele No Kane. This was to ensure our journey, not only of our first voyage but every voyage after will be blessed and be anointed with our Aloha.

Plus, there was some super ʻono poi on board!

Pule kakou -- E ho mai -- He mele no Kane

Those paddles tho!

 We set sail at about 11am on light southeast offshore winds (5-10 knots) toward mokapu point. Only I and one other member have no experience in sailing canoes, so I decided to try sheet since it was light and I get to sit on the pola/trampolines/ ama sides which is a no-go on any other outrigger. But when I saw the school ordinance/standard issue paddles I had to laugh. "Thatʻs an oar, not a paddle," I thought to myself. Otherwise, when the sail went up, I was amazed at the WCC logo. It looked so beautiful and powerful on the mast. It looked like it was finally where it belonged and it made me feel like I was too.

Light winds + First Sail = Pa'ina

We ended up rounding Mokoliʻi and coming in since the winds were so variable. The rest of the day was spent on sharing moʻolelo, team bonding, paddling, and enjoying the day. I am ready to enjoy many more voyages with my crew and find our winds.