Donned in beanies and insulated jackets, crew members aboard the traditional Polynesian voyaging canoe Hokule‘a have departed Juneau, Alaska, to begin its first leg of their Alaska Heritage Sail.
Crew members departed Juneau Friday morning and Hokule‘a is expected to arrive in Yakutat, Alaska, by noon today. The Hokule‘a is sailing through the southeast region of Alaska, a pre-voyage before the four-year navigation circumnavigation of the Pacific.
Member Chris Blake said the weather temperature was in the high 40s as the voyaging canoe navigated the inner pathways of Alaska toward Elfin Cove Friday.
“It’s amazing,” Blake said during a phone interview from the Hokule‘a. “Our crew is in great spirits. We saw a lot of otters. We had a visit from some dolphins.”
Crew members are also enjoying scenic views of the glaciers and snow-capped mountains.
The first leg of the Alaska Heritage Sail is in honor of the late Byron Mallott, chief executive officer of Sealaska Corp. and a former lieutenant governor of Alaska who embraced the connection between the native people of Hawaii and Alaska.
In 1990, Sealaska, owned by the Tlingit, Haida and Tsimshian tribes of Southeast Alaska, donated two logs that were shipped to Hawaii and carved to create the double-hulled canoe, Hawai‘iloa, according to the Polynesian Voyaging Society website.
Members of the Mallott family joined the Hokule‘a crew on the first leg of the sail.
The Alaska Heritage Sail also pays homage to other Alaska natives as well as places that played a part in the 30-year relationship between the voyaging community and Alaska, the voyaging society said.
Blake, a teacher and volleyball coach at Kamehameha Schools, said, “We’re very honored to be able to be here in this place of abundance and to strengthen our connections to our Alaskan Native communities.”
Over the past week, crew members checked sails, washed decks and loaded equipment onto the Hokule‘a including life preservers, spare lines and other provisions shipped from Hawaii to prepare for the heritage sail as well as the Moananuiakea voyage, a circumnavigation of the Pacific.
Polynesian Voyaging Society spokesperson Sonja Swenson Rogers said the Hokule‘a is expected to stay in Yakutat until the end of the month. From there, the voyaging canoe will sail to Hoonah, Alaska, where crew members will stay for a couple of days before heading to Haines, Alaska, where the crew will be from June 4 to June 8.
The voyaging canoe is scheduled to return to Juneau on June 10.
The Hokule‘a arrived in Juneau on May 9 via barge from Seattle. The canoe was docked at Auke Bay Harbor before crew members departed Friday for the Alaska Heritage Sail.
When the crew returns from Juneau, they will gear up for the Moananuiakea voyage, a 43,000-nautical mile circumnavigation of the Pacific that will start when the Hokule‘a departs Alaska on June 15.
The 47-month voyage that will include Hokule‘a’s sister canoe, Hikianalia, will visit “36 countries and archipelagos, nearly 100 indigenous territories, and 345 ports,” according to the organization’s website.
Central America, Polynesia, New Zealand, Micronesia and Japan are among the places along the planned voyage.
The organization said the purpose of the voyage is to spark a movement of 10 million “planetary navigators” and engage communities around the world on the importance of oceans, nature, science and indigenous wisdom.
For more information on the Moananuiakea voyage, visit hokulea.com.
