Hōkūleʻa and Hikianalia have left on their voyage to circumnavigate the Pacific. But another traditional double-hulled canoe is making a month-long tour closer to home.
For the first time in 14 years, Iosepa crossed the Kaiwi Channel from Oʻahu to visit Molokaʻi. It’s part of a month-long interisland voyage linking Oʻahu, Molokaʻi and Maui.
As the sun set behind the canoe, Iosepa crew members played music and gathered with community.
Aboard the waʻa, crewmember Ben Jordan gave a tour.
“These are the spaces where we have our bunks, so there’s enough for six crew to sleep at any given time.”
On this voyage, Iosepa is sailed by a crew of 16 on each leg.
Jordan motioned to the two large wooden steering blades at the rear of the waʻa.
“These are known as the hoe uli,” he explained. “Iosepa is kind of unique in that it has two — most of the traditional voyaging canoes have one.”
Crewmember Chris Muhlestein said having two steering blades is important for this vessel, which is crafted from solid wood.
“Just because of the weight of this canoe — 9 tons — and once you have a lot of wind and weather, it just takes a lot of energy to steer the waʻa,” he explained. “So we have crews of five that switch out about an hour or hour and a half each, and the sail was 12 hours from Oʻahu to here. So we're switching crews in and out, in and out, and it takes full body weight, full energy to steer this thing.”
Iosepa’s captain, Mark Ellis, got his start in voyaging aboard Hōkūleʻa. While many may be more familiar with that iconic canoe, Ellis said there are some key differences.
“Hōkūleʻa is 64 feet long. Iosepa is 57 feet long,” he explained. “Hōkūleʻa has composite and fiberglass hulls with marine plywood inside, and Iosepa is solid wood.”
But like Hōkūleʻa, the goal of Iosepa is to keep alive the art of traditional wayfinding, provide cultural education and perpetuate Hawaiian values.
The canoe is owned by Brigham Young University—Hawaii and housed and maintained at the Polynesian Cultural Center.
Its visit to Molokaʻi was a special occasion. Muhlestein said Iosepa has ties to the island.
“This boat was the dream of Uncle Bill Wallace, who was a community member in Lāʻie, also from Molokaʻi,” he said. “So it's a special thing to get the canoe back on island.”
Ellis also has Molokaʻi ʻohana roots, as do several of the crewmembers.
One of those is Rafael Adolpho, who remembers first seeing Iosepa when it visited Molokaʻi in 2011, when he was about 10 years old, during his canoe paddling practice at Kaunakakai Wharf. After attending BYU, he learned to sail aboard Moʻokiha, Mauiʻs voyaging canoe.
He described bringing Iosepa home as a “dream come true.”
“On top of that, being able to go to Kualapuʻu [School], where I went to school and give back teaching them about voyaging, and give canoe tours to family members and friends and just all the people Molokaʻi — it means a lot, and it's really touching to be back here again,” he said, as he stood on the waʻa.
While they were on Molokaʻi, crew members volunteered in the loʻi in Hālawa Valley, shared wayfinding knowledge with students, and gave community members the chance to step aboard the canoe.
“It's kind of special homecoming, bringing not only the canoe, but also bringing crew members back to this ʻāina,” Ellis said.
Under Wallace’s vision, the waʻa was constructed in 2001. Ellis said Iosepa was built by master carvers, with the help of BYU students and community members, working around the clock to complete it in just nine months.
“Iosepo was built as a floating classroom to perpetuate our traditions and our traditional ways of life. So we're just perpetuating that,” Ellis told HPR. “About half the crew is students from BYU Hawaii, and about the other half is community members.”
After being on its dry dock for eight years for maintenance and planning, Iosepa sailed again last year on Oʻahu for the Festival of Pacific Arts and Culture. Now, it's crossing the channels for the first time in about a decade.
This week, Iosepa has been in Lahaina, where its crew has been engaging with residents. To celebrate its arrival, the Polynesian Cultural Center also shared a special, free performance for the community.
After its Maui leg, Iosepa will sail back to Oʻahu to stop in several communities before ending its voyage in Haleʻiwa.
