New specialty license plate features Hokuleʻa

As a Hokule‘a crew member, Chris Blake said words cannot describe the way it feels to be on the iconic vessel. He first sailed on the double-hulled Polynesian voyaging canoe in 2012 with a group of educators from Kamehameha Schools and then as part of the historic Malama Honua Worldwide Voyage in 2016.

The bond among crew members and the people they meet during their journeys are some of the best parts of the experience, he said. But what cannot be topped, he said, is the legacy that the Hokule‘a continues to perpetuate worldwide.

“It’s amazing. Hokule‘a is such a magnet that draws people in,” said Blake, a science teacher at Kameha­meha Schools Kapalama. “Its energy and mana (power) seems to permeate from it.”

That’s why Blake said he couldn’t wait to buy a new specialty license plate featuring the Hokule‘a. About 18,000 plates were made available for purchase at satellite city halls on Oahu, starting this week. According to the Polynesian Voyaging Society, the plates are also available on Hawaii island. They’ll be released in Kauai County on Monday, and in Maui County in March.

The initial cost is $35.50, $20 of which goes to the Polynesian Voyaging Society. There is also a $25 annual renewal fee, and the society will receive $20 of the proceeds.

The Hokule‘a specialty license plate is the third released in the state, following plates featuring Haleakala and Hawaii Volcanoes national parks in 2017.

The license plate depicts the Hokule‘a when it first launched from Hakipuu in Kaneohe on March 8, 1975. Todd Yamashita, a Hokule‘a crew member who designed the plate, said in an email that he wanted to “capture the importance of Hakipu‘u to Hokule‘a, but most importantly the essence and beauty of this relationship.”

Yamashita sailed with a small crew in 2017, after the vessel returned home from its Malama Honua Worldwide Voyage. He said he spent the night onboard doing anchor watch and still vividly remembers the predawn hours before the cultural and spiritual celebrations began.

“I can remember the sunrise that morning as it rose over Mokoli‘i (islet) and the first rays of light cast over Hokule‘a. To witness and actually feel Hokule‘a in this deep state of peace after voyaging 17,000 miles … (and) feeling her actually feel at home after more than four years at sea, it was a spiritual and aesthetic moment I’ll never forget,” he said.

“Hokule‘a represents an unbroken link to our past, as well as a learning platform for our youth and their future, so it was important for me to try to capture this timelessness.”

Ann Botticelli, a Polynesian Voyaging Society board member, said the process to get the green light for the license plate took a few years. The proposal was approved last year by the Legislature and Gov. David Ige.

“The response that we’ve gotten from people is very exciting and heartwarming,” she said. “To know that so many people love this canoe, which is iconic, want to be close to it and want to support what Polynesian Voyaging Society does and our mission is just really sort of chicken-skin and emotional for us.”

Blake said he hopes the increased visibility of the vessel on cars across the state will bring more awareness to the voyaging society’s mission and its educa­tional work in schools and the community.

“Voyaging and navigation are such an important part of our history, not only of Native Hawaiians, but of Hawaii and all of the Pacific,” he said. “She’s (Hokule‘a) still continuing to sail and inspire others 40-plus years later. Knowing that we’re able to support and represent this tradition is definitely an honor.”

For more information about the specialty license plate, visit hokulea.com/pvs-specialty-license-plates.

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Jayna Omaye covers ethnic and cultural affairs and is a corps member of Report for America, a national serv­ice organization that places journalists in local newsrooms to report on under­covered issues and communities.