Hokule’a crew preps for next leg in face of gusty weather

o Follow the progress of Hokule’a and Hikianalia

Hokule’a and Hikianalia crews will now wait until Friday, at least, before making the crossing from Tutuila to Apia, for the United Nations’ Small Islands Developing States Conference.

With winds gusting around 30 knots in churning, unfamiliar seas … the weather just isn’t cooperating. Ultimately, it’s not up to us to say when to leave (safely) — it’s the islands and the surrounding weather that tell us when to go.

“You feel the pressure to get there,” Nainoa Thompson told this leg’s leaders during their daily meeting Wednesday, referring to the UN conference. “But it’s a safety issue. They really want us to come, but we ain’t going till it’s safe.”

His decision comes after poring over local charts and weather reports, and consulting with locals who know these waters far better than Hokule’a’s captains do. They’ve told him it’s not a good idea to go yet, Thompson says. He’s uneasy with the lack of familiarity with these waters as the canoes would try to clear Tutuila. He compares it to sailing Hawaii Island’s Hamakua coast — at night.

Part of the purpose of the Malama Honua voyage is to include a lot of young crew members — but there’s a flip side to having fewer veterans aboard — i.e., those who would fare better in these conditions. It means we have to play things safer. “It’s the right call,” Thompson tells his brain trust.

Whenever we go, a volunteer escort will tow at least Hokule’a out — Hiki might need a tow too, even with its electric motor capacity. We’ll go slowly, pounding against the waves and winds gusting west into Pago Pago Harbor. We’ll need to get at least several miles south of the island to make sure we clear it. Once we see the winds, we’ll know which is the best way to sail around Tutuila.

Several of us Hokule’a crew members spent the morning rigging the canoe’ sails, securing her masts and loading several dozen heavy water containers into her hulls — a lot of lifting with your legs, not your back. Crews were hard at work next to us on Hikianalia too.

We then sped down the road — and past a tree with scores of hanging fruit bats — to a nearby National Oceans and Atmospheric Administration building to christen a new mural from Wyland — donated free by the renowned marine artist (and amazingly painted in about two hours).  Lunch included coconut juice straight from the shell.

Thursday morning it’s safety drills out on the water.

Honolululu Star-Advertiser reporter Marcel Honor? joins the traditional voyaging canoe Hokule’a to chronicle the third international leg of its Malama Honua (“Care for the Earth”) worldwide voyage. Hokule’a and escort canoe Hikianalia plan to visit several island ports, sailing from Samoa to the Phoenix Islands, part of Kiribati, and back — an approximately 1,800-mile journey that’s expected to take more than a month.