Star of gladness finds good hope after epic ocean voyage
A MODERN version of a 3 000year-old “ocean spaceship” arrived in Cape Town this week.
The Hokule‘a, a wooden catamaran with limited modern fittings, arrived with a sunburnt crew of 12, most of them Native Hawaiians.
The crew set sail in May last year in an attempt to circumnavigate the globe, using only ancient methods to navigate at times. After about 38 600km of their 77 000km journey, Cape Town marks the halfway point.
“We’re using this replica of an ancient vehicle to search for different cultures and extraordinary environments,” said one of the two captains, Nainoa Thompson. “The purpose is to explore . . . and restore the culture of Polynesian people.”
He said that 3 000 years ago, when boats like the Hokule‘a first put to sea, the design was so advanced that they would have been the ancient equivalent of a spaceship today.
Thompson is one of a handful of Hawaiians trained in ancient Polynesian navigation methods which use only the sun, moon and stars.
Unfamiliarity with the Indian and Atlantic oceans meant the crew has had to use modern instruments at times to ensure their safety.
“In the Pacific we use no instruments [to navigate], to honour our ancestors. But we can’t
EXPLORER: Nainoa Thompson, one of the expedition leaders do that in South African waters, it’s just too dangerous. This canoe is not designed for these waters,” Thompson said.
The youngest member of the crew, Lehua Kamala, 29, said the opportunity to join the trip was a “blessing and a huge responsibility”.
“This is something everyone I know wants to be a part of or at least learn more about,” said Kamala, a mechanical engineer.
“We’re all different people, but when we come to the canoe we’re all aligned and take care of each other.”
The Hokule‘a crew were welcomed at a ceremony hosted by the Desmond and Leah Tutu Foundation yesterday.
Tutu blessed the Hokule‘a — which means “star of gladness” — during a visit to Honolulu in 2012.
He said those involved in the voyage were “helping us all to discover truths about ourselves”.