Hōkūleʻa and her crew arrived in California Tuesday morning after an overnight sail down from Oregon.
Heavy winds are forecasted over the next couple of days, which may keep the canoe docked in port until the weather clears up.
Hōkūleʻa crew member Lehua Kamalu said the crew encountered some big swells and chilly weather on the journey down from Coos Bay, Oregon.
"It was cold. There was no clouds in the sky to keep us warm. And now it’s like blazing hot and we’re wearing too many clothes," Kamalu said.
"We’ve just arrived in Eureka up in Northern California, kind of in the midst of the Redwood forest here. So we’re hopefully going to be able to kind of take a visit up to the see the forest, which will be incredible."
Kamalu said it has been 28 years since Hōkūleʻa visited the Bay Area.
Kamalu spent the night in the rotation for hoe uli duty, steering Hōkūleʻa down the coast. Crew members rotate every 15 minutes to an hour, and she said it takes a lot of fitness. You’ve got to predict where she’s going and get a feel for Hōkūleʻa.
"She kind of behaves like a really big giant surfboard," Kamalu laughed. "So you want to steer her down the wave in the right direction. She likes to do tricks and veer off to the right and to the left, and so we have that big giant hoe uli sweep down the center to kind of keep her on course."
"But it is a workout! So yes, my core muscles are engaged and on fire today," she continued.
Crew members are expecting a couple of port stops along the way to Hōkūleʻa’s next big arrival ceremony in San Francisco next weekend.
But Kamalu said the weather may be a challenge.
"There is some heavy winds forecasted along the horizon up in the 20-knots, 30-knots range. And that really is not too safe for us to be out in these kind of conditions and in those kind of waves and wind with Hōkū."
"So probably a couple of days before we head out. We are going to make our way down to the Bay Area, to the San Francisco area," she said.
Stay tuned for HPR's coverage of Hōkūleʻa as reporters interview crew members and track their progress through the Pacific:
