Crews past and present Sunday will celebrate the 40th anniversary of the inaugural launch of the voyaging canoe Hoku­le‘a, which represents a dream realized for crew members such as Jenna Ishii, who fell in love with the double-hulled canoe as a third-grader.

Ishii had never heard of the canoe that proved that ancient Polynesians navigated Earth’s largest ocean to discover the Hawaiian Islands until Noreen Varney instructed Ishii’s class at Hana­hau­‘oli School to build a 20-foot replica of the 62-foot Hoku­le‘a out of cardboard in 1993.

With their fathers pushing the cardboard Hoku­le‘a — situated on top of a metal frame with wheels — around a kickball field, the 8- and 9-year-old children spent two hours under a darkening sky mimicking the original voyages from the Marquesas and Tahiti. In their replica canoe they brought aboard fake chickens, pigs and plants and stand-ins for possessions the islands’ first inhabitants brought with them.

"It was only two hours but it felt like forever," said Ishii, who is now 31 years old and an apprentice navigator for the Polynesian Voyaging Society. "It was the highlight of my whole elementary school experience. We were not allowed to get off the canoe, and we had to act like we were going through a storm. That was the first time in my whole life that I had this huge dream that you could do anything you wanted, that you could explore. It stuck with me forever."

Ishii has since returned to Hana­hau­‘oli School to talk to parents and Varney’s current sixth-grade students about her journeys aboard Hoku­le‘a — and that, said Nai­noa Thompson, president of the Polynesian Voyaging Society, is Hoku­le‘a’s real legacy.

"The inspiration for Hoku­le‘a didn’t begin with Jenna," Thompson said. "Her inspiration began with a teacher who created a voyage across the kickball field. Through our teachers the lessons of Hoku­le‘a are magnified exponentially."

Varney cried as she remembered her third-graders’ year spent studying ancient Hawaiian culture that culminated with the construction of the cardboard Hoku­le‘a.

"The kids ate dried fish and dried fruit as they were being wheeled across the field by their fathers," Varney said. "When it was dusk and very dark, we landed, and, exhausted, they tumbled out and unpacked the chickens and pigs and all of the plants they brought to this island that represented their new home. It made me appreciate the kind of courage that the ancient people had and the wisdom that the ancient people had that’s now being passed down through Nai­noa teaching Jenna and Jenna now teaching younger generations about Hoku­le‘a."

Thompson, 61, had to pause for several moments to consider all that Hoku­le‘a has represented since it first set sail out of Kane­ohe Bay on March 8, 1975.

In the 1970s, Hoku­le‘a served as a symbol of Hawaiian pride and cultural renaissance, and proved that ancient Polynesians settlers could find their away across the Pacific Ocean with pinpoint accuracy by "wayfinding" — or reading the stars, waves and wind, which refuted theories that ancient Hawaiians had merely stumbled upon the islands by accident.

Thompson was aboard the Hoku­le‘a in 1978 when it capsized in heavy seas in the Molo­kai Channel, prompting big-wave surfer and lifeguard Eddie Aikau to jump onto a surfboard and paddle for help on Lanai.

Aikau was never seen again, giving birth to the island saying of selflessness in the face of danger: "Eddie would go."

Since then Hoku­le‘a has touched — and been touched — by thousands of schoolchildren as well as many dignitaries.

It has sailed to faraway places such as Alaska, Rapa Nui, Japan and Micronesia — some 145,000 nautical miles in all.

Hokule‘a is now 8,000 miles into a worldwide voyage — with another 40,000 miles to go.

"Forty years," Thompson said before pausing several times. "Four decades. Looking back on 40 years, it’s completely overwhelming for me personally. When you look at those 40 years, other than my family, it’s the most influential impact on my life. I was there before the canoe was even built by Herb Kane. I can’t help but see it through the lens of this canoe navigating my life and taking me to extraordinary places. Every time I look back, I see the faces of my teachers and mentors and the extraordinary individuals who came together from all parts of the world to help Hoku­le‘a become successful."

In May, Thompson will be honored as one of the Peter Benchley Ocean Award Winners in Washington, D.C., along with the likes of Prince Albert II of Monaco and Secretary of State John Kerry.

Thompson, the awards’ organizers said in a statement, "was the first Native Hawaiian since the 14th Century to practice long-distance wayfinding. … For decades, Thompson has dedicated himself to teaching the skills and values of wayfinding to generations of navigators throughout Polynesia."

Thompson insisted that any awards related to Hoku­le‘a rightfully belong to Hoku­le‘a.

"I’m just picking it up for the canoe," he said.

Hokule‘a has also represented a homecoming for Ishii. Upon graduating from high school, she left for college at the University of Cali­for­nia, San Diego, with no intention of returning to Hawaii.

She ended up teaching English in Japan and in 2007 was asked by Japa­nese tourism officials to serve on a welcoming committee that greeted Hoku­le‘a when it sailed into Ito­man, Okinawa. Ishii had no relationship with Hoku­le‘a or the Polynesian Voyaging Society, but followed the canoe to three more Japa­nese ports.

When Thompson returned to Oahu, he found a letter from Ishii saying she needed to come home and be part of Hoku­le‘a.

"Growing up as a child from Hawaii but not having Hawaiian blood, I was always questioning my identify from a very young age," Ishii said. "But being a part of this voyaging experience, I finally felt a part of Hawaii. I finally understood my place."

As always, Sunday’s annual "birthday" marking Hoku­le‘a’s inaugural launch will be a private, low-key, potluck affair for crew members and others associated with the Polynesian Voyaging Society.

Hokule‘a will not be present. It’s currently in dry dock 4,500 miles away in Aotearoa (New Zealand) preparing for the next leg of its journey.

"It’s not the same when we have a birthday party when Hoku­le‘a is so far away," Thompson said. "She’s the oldest voyaging canoe the earth has. She’s the first. She’s precious beyond measure. We do feel her far away, and that feeling will not go away until she comes home in 2017" from the worldwide voyage.

While Thompson contemplates the impact that Hoku­le‘a has had over the last 40 years, he is convinced that the canoe will last another four decades.

"I would argue that she’s stronger, lighter, more stable and definitely safer than the day she was launched," Thompson said. "She will be here 40 years from now because people will take care of her because of the values of aloha and kule­ana. When you have those values, I guarantee Hoku­le‘a will be here in 40 years."