Ten years after it sailed to Rarotonga during the Mālama Honua Worldwide Voyage, Hōkūleʻa has returned to the most populous island in the Cook Islands as part of a multi-year voyage.
The double-hulled Polynesian voyaging canoe and the safety vessel Hikianalia are currently docked at Avana Harbour, where they're being looked after by pwo navigator Peia Patai and his crew.
“I’ve got crews that stay on watch at night to make sure that the canoes are safe,” he said.
Patai is only one of two master navigators from the Cook Islands in the nonprofit Polynesian Voyaging Society. He was instantly hooked on Hōkūleʻa after first being introduced in 1991.
He was taught by Native Hawaiian pwo master navigator Nainoa Thompson, along with pwo master navigator Mau Piailug, the Micronesan seafarer who was instrumental in training Polynesian navigators for decades to ensure the revival of the cultural practice of wayfinding.
Patai wanted to learn that practice and bring it to his home island to teach the younger generation to ensure the traditions are never lost again in the Cook Islands.
“That’s the big hope,” he said. "It has been difficult because of the impact of colonization. So we have to take that to heart and understand it, and start to spread the message that we need to revive it before we lose it again.”
The Cook Islands have two voyaging canoes, Marumaru Atua and Paikea. Patai sailed Marumaru Atua at last year's Festival of Pacific Arts and Culture.
Patai also founded Te Puna Marama Voyaging Foundation in 2022, a trust that aims to teach traditional navigation and sailing. He's trained more than 75 Cook Islanders through the trust's programs on Paikea.
Patai said there's a learning center on the island of Aitutaki. Wednesday was the official blessing of rocks formed in the shape of a star compass at the center.
Patai awaits the new set of crew members for Leg 15 of Hōkūleʻa's Moananuiākea Voyage. He will be the senior captain and adviser on Hikianalia.
Crew members are expected to arrive in Rarotonga on Sept. 6 and Sept. 13. The canoes plan to sail north to Aitutaki on Sept. 15.
