Crew members on the Polynesian voyaging canoes Hōkūleʻa and Hikianalia are gearing up to continue on their Moananuiākea voyage. But this time, they’re taking a route that hasn’t been sailed in 40 years: from the Cook Islands to New Zealand, or Aotearoa.
The reroute of the voyage came after the canoes were delayed a couple of weeks behind schedule due to uncertain weather conditions and fear of sailing into the South Pacific’s hurricane season.
Lehua Kamalu is captain and navigator for Leg 15, which was originally supposed to sail from Rarotonga to Sāmoa.
Kamalu is no stranger to sailing vast waters. But this will be her first time sailing from the Cook Islands to New Zealand.
“It'll be a nice, refreshing and challenging course for us to really expand our skills,” she said. “Then test the learning that we’ve done, and also bring a whole new generation of young ones who will get to experience this magical voyage.”
Some of the Leg 15 crew are already in Rarotonga, while the rest are in Hawaiʻi undergoing storm training.
Hōkūleʻa and the safety vessel Hikianalia are currently docked at Avana Harbour in Rarotonga. When the rest of the Leg 15 crew arrive, they will then sail more than a thousand miles to Aotearoa.
Kamalu said the crew will need to brave a long journey with colder temperatures, different sets of stars, and changing trade winds. But she keeps in mind what her teachers have taught her.
“There is no bad wind. The wind is what it is,” she said.
The crew members are expected to fly out to Rarotonga between Oct. 19 and Oct. 28.
They will then sail to Aotearoa, which will take them 10 days to two weeks, putting them in New Zealand around the second week of November.
Kamalu said the crew is looking to beat the South Pacific’s hurricane season.
“When we're planning a voyage, we want to be sailing as much as possible, not in the hurricane season,” she said.
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