Hōkūleʻa to Visit Lahaina Before Worldwide Voyage

Hōkūleʻa at Māʻalaea. File photo June 2013, courtesy Jordan Smith.

By Wendy Osher

The Polynesian Voyaging Society’s Hōkūleʻa double hulled traditional sailing canoe will make a stop in Lahaina this weekend on its way to Hilo, where it will begin the international leg of its historic worldwide voyage.

Maui residents are invited to watch the canoe arrival, which is tentatively scheduled for 7 to 7:30 a.m. on Sunday, May 18, 2014, at Lahaina Harbor, before the vessel temporarily moors in front of the Lahaina Yacht Club.

The public is also invited bring a dish to a community pot luck hosted by Hui O Waa Kaulua at noon at Kamehameha Iki Park on Front Street, the organization announced.

According to the Hui O Waʻa Kaulua announcement, father and daughter navigators, Chad Kalepa Baybayan and Paanaakala Baybayan will be sailing to Tahiti on the first leg of Hōkūleʻa’s World Voyage, which departs from Hawaiʻi later this month.

Over several months last year, the PVS conducted Mālama Hawaiʻi, the first leg of the voyage, in which navigators paid respect to communities throughout the state.

The second leg of the worldwide voyage will begin this month as the canoes depart for their first international port. More than 300 crew members are expected to rotate and participate in the voyage, visiting 85 ports in more than 25 countries, traveling an estimated 47,000 nautical miles.