This week, Hōkūleʻa and her crew wrapped up their stay in Dana Point, California, after sailing in on Saturday from Newport Beach. Following their last California stop in San Diego, Hōkūleʻa will return to Hawaiʻi.
Hōkūle’a Apprentice Navigator Jonah Apo said the journey from Newport Beach to Dana Point was a smooth six-hour sail.
"Right now, we’re sitting dockside at the Ocean Institute. We have a nice cliffside mountain wrapping around the canoe and the harbor so it's quite the view down here," Apo described.
He said the sail provided a perfect opportunity for some onboard training.
"We ended up making it down to Dana Point earlier than we needed to be there. So we were lucky enough to tack out toward the horizon and tack back in, so the crew got a lot of good training," Apo said.
"Especially because this is a pretty young crew so anytime we can open up the sails and get going is a blast."
Hōkūle‘a and her crew were greeted by the same Indigenous community that hosted them in Newport Beach.
"Dana Point is also still Acjachemen territory. So were lucky enough to be welcomed in by friends we met already. And then out inside the breakwater dozens and dozens of outrigger canoes welcomed us in and a massive crowd on the dockside here," Apo said.
"They had Tahitian drums going and different hula halau and Māori singers all performing for us at our arrival ceremony."
November marks five months since the Moananuiākea Voyage launched from Juneau, Alaska. A Matson ship transported the 22,000-pound Hōkūle’a to the continent before the voyage began.
"I was lucky enough to do a leg in Alaska and a leg in Canada and now here in California, and just hearing stories from people who've met Hōkūle’a before or read stories about Hōkūle’a years and decades ago," Apo said.
"Seeing the magic that this canoe brings really makes this voyage special for us."
Hōkūle‘a arrived in San Diego on Wednesday afternoon, where it will remain open for public tours through next week.
The Polynesian Voyaging Society announced in August that Hōkūleʻa would return home in late December due to the devastating West Maui wildfires.
San Diego is Hōkūleʻa’s final stop on the California leg of the Moananuiākea Voyage before the double-hulled canoe gets loaded on a ship and sent back to Hawaiʻi.
Take a look at HPR's past coverage of Hōkūleʻa:
