Voyaging canoe Hikianalia returns to Hawaii
The voyaging canoe Hikianalia was seen in waters off Waikiki Tuesday morning. Hikianalia is slated to return to the Marine Education and Training Center around 5 p.m.; its crew will step off the canoe for the first time since leaving Tahiti more than 20 days ago.
The voyaging canoe Hikianalia was seen in waters off Waikiki Tuesday morning. Hikianalia is slated to return to the Marine Education and Training Center around 5 p.m.; its crew will step off the canoe for the first time since leaving Tahiti more than 20 days ago.CTY - The voyaging canoe Hikianalia is seen in waters off Waikiki on Tuesday, June 16, 2015 in Honolulu. Hikianalia is slated to return to the Marine Education and Training Center around 5 pm Tuesday; its crew will step off the canoe for the first time since leaving Tahiti more than 20 days ago. The canoe ventured as far as New Zealand, escorting Hokulea before returning to Hawaii. (Jamm Aquino/The Honolulu Star-Advertiser).
The voyaging canoe Hikianalia was seen in waters off Waikiki Tuesday morning. Hikianalia is slated to return to the Marine Education and Training Center around 5 p.m.; its crew will step off the canoe for the first time since leaving Tahiti more than 20 days ago.
Modern voyaging canoe Hikianalia is back in Hawaiian waters, fresh off its stint escorting Hokule‘a for nearly the first year of the “Malama Honua” worldwide sail.
The double-hulled vessel was spotted floating just offshore at Walls Beach in Waikiki early Tuesday morning, after leaving Tahiti 28 days ago. Hikianalia has spent the past two-months journeying back from New Zealand. Apprentice navigators used the stars and swells to help guide her home.
Hikianalia — often called “Hiki” by its crews — has been away for more than a year. The last time the canoe was seen in Hawaii was May 30, 2014, at Palekai Bay, Hilo, as it slipped off with Hokule‘a to begin the round-the-world journey. Hikianalia served as Hokule‘a’s science, technology and safety escort as far as New Zealand.
Late last year, Malama Honua organizers announced that Hikianalia would return home instead of venturing with Hokule‘a into the unfamiliar and volatile Indian Ocean. In Hiki’s place, the Gershon II, a modern sailboat equipped with power to tow at longer distances, would accompany Hokule‘a through the Indian Ocean.
For now, PVS sees Hikianalia’s return to Hawaii as an opportunity to open up the Malama Honua voyage on a new front, covering an additional 16,000 miles or so of sailing. They plan to bring community members aboard to serve as crew while the canoe spends the next year or so journeying around the islands.
