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CRAIG T. KOJIMA/CKOJIMA@STARADVERTISER.COM
Kaina Holomalia watches lines as Hokulea returns to the ocean after 18 months in drydock at Sand Island this morning.
CRAIG T. KOJIMA/CKOJIMA@STARADVERTISER.COM
Volunteers and members of the Polynesian Voyaging Society push the Hokulea to a launching ramp as the canoe returned to the ocean after 18 months in drydock at Honolulu Community College's Marine Education and Training Center on Sand Island.
Nainoa Thompson, speaks during ceremony marking the relaunch of the Hokulea this morning at Sand Island. He is with daughter, Puana.
• Photo Gallery: Hokule’a returns to the ocean
The Hawaiian voyaging canoe Hokule’a is back in the water after 18 months in drydock.
The Polynesian Voyaging Society celebrated the relaunching of the canoe this morning at the Honolulu Community College’s Marine Education and Training Center on Sand Island, where 15,500 volunteers hours were spent refurbishing the canoe.
The nearly 62-foot vessel is two feet wider; 1,000 pounds lighter but still uses its original twin hulls that were designed by Herb Kane 37 years ago.
The vessel’s front mast is two feet taller and all of the wood rot from nearly four decades of Pacific Ocean voyages has been removed, said Nainoa Thompson, president of the Polynesian Voyaging Society in a recent online message.
He said the canoe is ready for statewide sails this year in preparation for its three-year, around-the-world voyage scheduled to begin next year.
Bruce Blankenfeld, a Hokule’a master navigator who led the reconstruction effort, said, “For more than 30 years we’ve had the privilege and honor to explore and discover aboard Hokule’a.
“The wa‘a has served us well, sailing more than 125,000 miles over the last three decades. Now is our time to care for her.
“As we train a new generation of leadership and deep sea sailors, it is our obligation to leave them with a canoe that is healthy, sound and capable of another four decades of voyaging and exploration.”
The Hokule’a was first launched on March 8, 1975. It is built of plywood, fiberglass and resin, with a design based on traditional Polynesian voyaging canoes.
Since its first 1976 voyage to Tahiti without the use of modern navigational instruments, the Hokule’a has completed nine voyages to Micronesia, Polynesia, Japan, Canada and the U.S. mainland, using only celestial navigation.
