Thanks to GPS technology, finding your way is easy today—unless you’re on the Hōkūle‘a. A wa‘a kaulua (double-hulled Polynesian voyaging canoe), the Hōkūle‘a has been making regular voyages since 1975, connecting with Indigenous cultures from around the world. Its Moananuiākea voyage, a four-year circumnavigation of the Pacific, is underway now. So on a vessel without modern technology to rely on, how do you navigate the Pacific Ocean? Lehua Kamalu, one of the primary navigators aboard the Hōkūle‘a. She knows the way.
The Hōkūle‘a.
Photo: David Croxford
How did you get involved with the Polynesian Voyaging Society and the Hōkūle‘a?
It was actually back in 2009 while I was finishing my bachelor’s degree at the University of Hawai‘i that I got involved with the society more intentionally as a volunteer. There was a call out for volunteers, just word of mouth, and at the time I was not even remotely interested in finding more things to fill my schedule with—I was just trying to graduate and get a job that would pay me a lot of money so I could keep living in Hawai‘i.
But I went to the first meeting day and [captain and navigator of the Hōkūle‘a] Bruce Blankenfeld was there and he did a whole introduction to everyone of what was going on and talked about this really ambitious plan to take this canoe, the Hōkūle‘a, around the world—and I thought that was pretty amazing. After that, I kept going to help out almost every single day.
What’s it like, navigating Hōkūle‘a through the open ocean without any modern technology to assist you?
It’s like the most extreme hobby you can think of. When you’re out on the ocean without being able to sight any landmarks, it sort of gets you into a little bit of a fearful, panic state where you start to question if you are even remotely on course. And part of navigating is just surviving the experience of being awake and being attentive and observant for long periods of time.
You also have to learn how to manage your sleep and make sure not to fall asleep when there are critical things going on in the world, like sunrises and sunsets and moonrises and all those good things that help you find your course. You also need to kind of keep a log to track how things are changing. Did the waves change? Did the wind change? Because out there, there are no landmasses to give you direction—you’re just staring at a horizon that looks identical 360 degrees around.
Tell me about Hōkūle‘a’s latest voyage, Moananuiākea.
It’s really just the next chapter of what we did with our sail around the world. After getting back in 2017, we realized we didn’t quite get to visit everywhere we wanted to in our journey around the world—and as it turns out, going around the world, you’ll still miss probably 99% of it, particularly here in the Pacific. So we’ve wanted to go back and make connections with a lot of First Nations, First Peoples and Indigenous communities. Because for us, learning their stories and making connections with these communities are important factors for us to understand our place in the ocean and on this planet.
What do you, personally, take away from your voyages with Hōkūle‘a?
I’ve often thought about it as earning voyages to places. Once you get there, you deserve to be there. Don’t get me wrong, I fly to a lot of places. I’m not gonna say I don’t, but it’s just … a different experience when you show up in a very slow, 5-nautical- mile-per-hour canoe. Earning your voyage, earning what you’re doing there and really getting to spend a lot of time becoming immersed in that place, into the nature of that area, and then seeing the people that allow it to thrive and who care for it is incredible. It’s not an easy journey to take, so it’s not taken lightly, that’s for sure.
Keep up to date with Hōkūle‘a and its journey around the Pacific by visiting hokulea.com.
This story was originally published in our Fall 2023 issue.
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