Sailing to New Zealand is a full-circle moment for Hōkūleʻa crew member Lucy Lee.
In her senior year of high school, her class went on a field trip to the island country where she was first introduced to voyaging.
Now, Lee returns to the island with deep-sea voyaging experience.
“It was really special to me in a lot of personal ways,” she said.
The Polynesian voyaging canoes Hōkūleʻa and Hikianalia arrived in New Zealand, or Aotearoa, earlier this month as part of the Moananuiākea Voyage.
Crew members were under kapu to reflect on their voyage from Rarotonga in the Cook Islands. They were officially in Waitangi and Ōkahu Bay, Auckland.
“No matter how many times we sail with one another or sail on either of the canoes, there’s always something more to learn,” Lee said.
Lee said what’s different about sailing from the Cook Islands to Aotearoa was the drastic change in weather. Most of the time, the crew couldn’t see the stars, so they had to rely on other navigational methods.
“We relied a lot on our tell-tales, which are little pieces of fabric we put up on the stay lines of the rigging, which helps us to read the wind direction,” Lee said. “A lot of our steering was done based on the wind direction.”
Lee added that she learned a lot from Captain Lehua Kamalu and other crew members about how quickly they adapted to the changing climate.
She hopes to share that experience with the future generation of voyagers.
“It's about connecting this younger generation, and I think it's exciting to get to do that and be a small part of it.”
The Leg 15 crew members have returned to Hawaiʻi for the holidays.
Hōkūleʻa and Hikianalia will remain docked at the Auckland Marina until mid-January. They will then move to dry dock, which is expected to take about two weeks.
The nonprofit Polynesian Voyaging Society doesn’t expect to do additional engagement activities while in Aotearoa, but details have not yet been confirmed.
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