The Hawaiian double-hulled canoe instrumental in launching a cultural renaissance in the Pacific is going through a rebirth itself after about 36 years of sailing and traveling the equivalent of more than six times around the world.

The masts, crossbeams and deck of the iconic Hokule‘a have been removed, leaving only the 1-inch shells of the Fiberglas-plywood hulls designed by one of the Polynesian Voyaging Society’s founders, the late artist Herb Kane.

Society president Nainoa Thompson said the rebuilding is the largest work project done to the Hokule‘a since it was constructed in 1975.

He said crew members are rebuilding the Hokule‘a for the next 36 years and the next generation of voyagers, including those who will be participating in a three-year worldwide sail starting in 2013.

"The worldwide voyage is the catalyst," he said.

"We really are very crystal clear about making the generation shift, and we’re working hard to make it happen."

Thompson said the Society has the responsibility to restore Hokule‘a as a legacy so that the next generation will be able to use her.

"Hokule‘a is ancestral … a living part of our genealogy," he said.

"This is our inspiration; it’s our guiding star. It’s our responsibility to care for her."

Crew members say once rebuilt and out of drydock on Sand Island, the Hokule‘a will be stronger, lighter, more stable and ultimately safer.

Hokule‘a building coordinator Bruce Blankenfeld said the canoe’s iako, or crossbeams, will be wider, its plywood decks and bulkheads are being replaced with stronger, lightweight composite foam, and its foremast will be 2 feet higher.

"Other than that, it will be about the same," Blankenfeld said.

Hokule‘a officials said a large portion of the $400,000 cost of rebuilding the canoe has been paid through educational grant money, but that some $150,000 is needed to complete the project.

Officials said an important part of rebuilding the Hokule‘a is training young crews and involving them in fabricating new parts and reassembling the canoe.

"The aim has been to get the next generation involved in building the canoe," Blankenfeld said.

Hokule‘a officials hope to complete the rebuilding before the end of the year.

IMPACT OF HOKULE’A

Using non-instrument navigation and native wayfinding techniques, the Hokule‘a sailed 2,400 miles from Honolua Bay, Maui, to Tahiti in 1976, supporting the assertion that Polynesians were capable of voyaging long distances centuries before Europeans.

The historic sail by the Hokule‘a instilled pride in Pacific Island cultures and contributed to a quantum shift in scholarly thinking about Pacific natives.

"It validated that our ancestors were brilliant and could accomplish these magnificent feats of traveling long distances," said Davianna McGregor, a Native Hawaiian and a professor of ethnic studies at the University of Hawaii.

McGregor said the Hawaii-Tahiti sail confirmed some oral histories that had been treated as myths by some Western scholars.

One of the ancient chants, "Eia Hawaii" or "Behold Hawaii," was composed centuries ago by the navigator of Mo‘ikeha after sighting Hawaii island while returning from Tahiti.

"The voyagers of the Hokule‘a validated that this was no myth. This was history," McGregor said.

CULTURAL REBIRTH, INTERCHANGE

For several voyaging societies in the Pacific, the double-hulled sailing canoe has become a part of their cultural rebirth.

Pacific islanders have composed new songs, dances and chants about the Hokule‘a, as well as re-established cultural protocols associated with voyaging.

The voyages also have provided a rite of passage for some youths into adulthood and a path to test their physical and mental limits and develop a respect and awareness of nature through their culture.

Sailing by wayfinding tests the ability of sailors to remember the seasonal location of stars, understand the flow of waves and wind, and know the different birds and cloud formations.

At night when sight is limited, sailors rely on other senses. A sudden cold wind and the smell of rain could mean a squall is coming and the sails need to be taken down quickly to protect the masts from breaking — or worse.

The Hawaii-Tahiti sail also gave Hawaiians a greater appreciation of their neighboring Pacific island cultures, including Micronesia, the home of wayfinding navigator Mau Piailug who taught non-instrument navigation to Hokule‘a crew members.

In 2007, the Hokule‘a accompanied a crew that delivered the gift of the double-hulled sailing canoe Alingano Maisu to Piailug on his home island Satawal in Micronesia.

The crew of the Hokule‘a also made goodwill visits with Bikinians who remain in exile because of nuclear tests on their atoll, Pohnpeians suffering from global warming, and the people of Uwajima, Japan, whose family members and relatives died when their high school fishery training vessel Ehime Maru was struck by a U.S. Navy submarine in Hawaiian waters in 2001.

Several former Hokule‘a crew members have helped to start voyaging societies on a number of South Pacific islands, including Aotearoa, the Cook Islands, Tahiti and Tonga.

To pay homage to the Hokule‘a, a fleet of double-hulled canoes sailing from New Zealand made a stopover in Hawaii this year en route to San Francisco. One of their main missions was to promote environmental responsibility about worldwide issues, including pollution of the oceans and global warming.

"Hokule‘a is one of the seeds in which a lot of things started," said Carlos Andrade, director of the University of Hawaii’s Kamakakuokalani Center for Hawaiian Studies.

Andrade said islanders view the Pacific as their home where their children will live for many generations and not as a dumping ground for nuclear waste and trash or a place to take all the fish.

"For the people of Oceania, this is our home," he said.