Hikianalia Greeted by Huge Crowd at Dana Point

Hikianalia’s arrival at Dana Point. PC: Todd Yamashita

More than 100 canoe paddlers, boaters and other water enthusiasts converged outside Dana Point, California, on Oct. 23, 2018, to escort the Polynesian voyaging canoe Hikianalia and crew members into port after sailing in from Avalon Bay on Catalina Island.

Acknowledging Hawaiian custom, crew members chanted outside the breakwater at Dana Cove, requesting permission to land in port. From a tribal canoe, members of the Acjachemen Nation, greeted the voyagers who proceeded into port at Ocean Institute where more than 1,000 supporters were waiting to welcome the canoe.

After disembarking, crew members and the public were greeted with ceremonial performances from Hula Hālau Lani Ola led by Puanani Jung, and Adelia Sandoval and the Acjachemen Nation. The arrival included welcome speeches from Acjachemen Chairwoman Teresa Romero, Mayor of Dana Point Rick Viczorek, Ocean Institute CEO Dan Pingaro, State Sen. Patricia Bates, and Hikianalia Captain Mark Ellis.

“We have a saying in Hawaiʻi—he waʻa he moku, he moku he waʻa—our canoe is an island, our island is a canoe,” said Captain Ellis. “As we live these values of sustainability, of taking care of our ocean, taking care of our island, we look to the canoe. Everything we have and need is on that canoe… like that canoe, this is the only Island Earth we have and we must take care of it.”

During the one-week stop in Dana Point, the crew will host crew presentations, screenings of Disney’s Moana, and dockside canoe tours which will give the public an opportunity to learn about traditional Polynesian voyaging and the mission of the Polynesian Voyaging Society’s Alahula Kai o Maleka Hikianalia California Voyage.

After a 2,800-mile voyage from Hawaiʻi to Northern California using traditional non-instrument navigation, Polynesian voyaging canoe Hikianalia and her crew have been sailing down the coast of California. On Oct. 30, Hikianalia is scheduled to depart Dana Point for San Diego where the crew will visit for approximately two weeks before concluding their California tour. The weather window to return to Hawaiʻi begins Nov. 15 around which time, a fourth crew of voyagers will arrive from the islands to replace the current crew.

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