Vaka rollin' down to old Maui

We woke up at 3 in the morning to sail out to meet the seven Vaka as they came down to Lahaina after crossing from Hilo on the Big Island the night before. Seeing the sails of the the seven vaka on the horizon was a beautiful sight to behold. We took some friends with us and gave the crews of the vaka a good cheer as they cruised passed.

One of my favorite details of the vaka are the traditional rig sails which have beautiful designs decorating the awesome tan bark material... a great color to begin with! (Then again I think I am biased!)

Vaka

The voyagers were welcomed on the dock in Kaunakaki in traditional Hawaiian style. Later that evening there was a more formal ceremony with the sharing of traditional ceremonial greetings, gifts, kava and much much aloha. Then there was a splendid feast. These voyagers are celebrated people and are treated like honored family wherever they go, and for good reason. I have to say though, they must have to go to a lot of ceremonies... which is on the one hand cool, because it is such an awesome and important voyage and way to celebrate Polynesian culture, on the other hand, however, so much formality seems like it must get a bit exhausting.... That in combination with their tight, tight travel schedule set by somebody else, makes me glad of the democratic decisions and lack of authority figures aboard good old Libertatia. I don't say that to detract from the value and wonderful qualities of the Pacific Voyagers project, merely to put it is perspective. It was inspiring to see such a focused voyaging project (somewhat in contrast with our own) but ultimately their project and that of the Libertatia (at least as it stands currently) seem to be two different cans of fish, which is, I think, OK.

Apologies for these are not the greatest pictures, but I think they get the impression across. Also if you want to see some better pictures of the Vaka do check out the pacific voyagers web site!

More Vaka

Check out that solar array, can you say awesome? That monster array is to power the twin electric motors on each vaka. Pretty flippin' cool.

That is the steering oar.

This is the bow of the Fijian vaka. Each nation on the voyage received a canoe and, as I understand it, initially all the canoes were basically the same, however with time and effort each nations' vaka it taking on its own character. The Fijian vaka is covered with this gorgeous carving work.

Note the paddle boards in the trampoline! The closest vaka is Fijian and the distant one is, I believe, pan-pacific with folks from different places. The highest flag on its rigging, the red and black, is Maori.

Vaka!

Vaka on Moloka'i

A longer explanation coming soon... in the meantime check it out: http://www.pacificvoyagers.org/ . This is an amazing voyaging project inspiring hope and excitement as it connects cultures and people across the pacific. There are seven voyaging canoes (vaka) navigating by only traditional Polynesian navigation as they cross the pacific... check out the website and if you are going to be in San Francisco or San Diego when they get there, by all means go check out the boats and meet the crews, a very inspirational group!

These pictures are from their arrival in Kaunakakai on Moloka'i.

Kalaupapa Lookout on Moloka'i

Kalaupapa is a peninsula off the north coast of Moloka'i. As you can see in the third picture, it is isolated by the world highest tropical sea cliffs. Back in the day (later 1800s) the peninsula became home to a leper colony where people were deserted and left in forced isolation. Today, there is still a settlement here, but the isolation policy was lifted in 1969. There is a hiking trail down and an airstrip, and, of course, one could go by boat. However, no matter the mode of transportation in order actually go to the settlement one must be invited. We are planning on sailing around the N. coast of Moloka'i and hopefully we will drop the hook off the peninsula and maybe get lucky enough to go to shore!

Some of Kaunakaki, Moloka'i

Wild and crazy rainbow fun.

Kaunakaki Town.

Libertatia and Dabloon anchored in Kaunakaki. Dabloon is another Ed Monk design owned and being fixed by an old salty character.

On the windy jetty with some mangos!

Hello from the Helm

This is the West coast of Maui, sailing back to Lahaina from Makena Beach. This was a very interesting sail, full of shifty and gusty winds. Sailing from Lahaina to Makena the day before we left in the afternoon and as we came out of the lee of the mountains and south of the isthmus of Maui, the wind was simply whistling, ripping across the lowlands. As it was just the two of us (Brother and I) we were on top of our game and reduced sail early, easily seeing the wind line as we approached. As we blasted across the bay behind the isthmus area (doing upwards of seven knots with just a reefed mizzen and staysail) Emmett ran the mizzen sheet and I was at the helm while gust after gust of 30-35 knots whipped across the water! It was a wild and salty ride. Then we made a splash entrance at the Little Beach Sunday Fun Fun Fun party (a weekly hippie festival of sorts, complete with fire dancing and a bangin' drum circle) as we anchored just off the beach and swam to shore! The next morning we got up early, weighed anchor and set sail thinking that we would make it across the area with the lowlands and into the lee of the mountains before the wind really picked up. Well, part of out plan worked, we did beat the wind filling in, but instead of strong gusty winds, we found ourselves faced with very little and very shifty wind. It was very interesting (ok, also a little frustrating) to observe how the trade winds get affected as they have to maneuver around, over, behind the islands of Hawaii. Many times the wind would be going strong from one direction only to peter out and then come from the opposite direction, so we would set our sails accordingly only to have the wind shift yet again. We played along for a good while, but finally resorted to using the old iron spinnaker, an engine is a handy thing every now and then!

Here are a few of me at the helm:

Double Rainbow, Lahaina

I was thinking of you Ashlee and Adam when I saw this. As it turns out, double rainbows seen in Lahaina, Maui can take one back to a wonderful home on Palmerston Blvd, Toronto. Miss you guys, hope you are having a wonderful summer!

Adam Family Kids... an update

Well, it has been almost two weeks now since Lowell left the Adam family kids to their own devices aboard the sturdy s/v Libertatia. And I have to say, it has been a blast. We have been sailing regularly, making a trip from Lahaina, Maui down to Makena Beach, Maui and back the next day. We have sailed up the west coast of Maui and then back to Lahaina. We went to Kaunakaki, Molokai and then just returned to Lahaina yesterday. While handling the boat with just two people forces us to be more aware and a bit more cautious, I think we have adapted quite well and are still even able to practice such old seamanship exercises as anchoring under sail and using the mizzen main to back on the anchor. All that said, I have to throw it out there, living with brother again after so many years is pretty weird. Good, but also weird. If you had told me five years ago that I would find myself living aboard a 76 year old wooden sailboat with my brother, I would have bust a gut laughing. But here I am! And like I said above, it is blast and, in all seriousness, an experience that I will probably treasure for the rest of my life.

As you can see in my other posts we have been staying very busy, with the highlight of the past few weeks definitely being getting to see and hangout with the folks from the voyaging vakas. Aside from that however, we have been getting lots of projects done on the boat, fixing some rigging situations, fixing the plumbing on our water tanks, getting the oven back in working order, improving our organization and storage situations, inventorying everything from our spice cabinet to our spare lines, fixing our sewing machine and soon (probably tomorrow) doing some overdue sail repair. Also when we were on Moloka'i we had the good fortune to see and hang out with some fellow cruisers from the S/V Seanote. Thanks to them for their friendship, stories, and hospitality, I can't wait to see them again!

HEY DAD!!!! Happy Father's Day!!!!

Hey dad, just thought I would let you know that you are the bestest. Thanks for all of your support and love, I don't know what I would do without my home team! You are a truly wonderful human and I admire and respect you very much. I am proud to be your daughter and can't wait see you in person again soon! These pictures are from last August and just thinking about your exploding-garden-killer-barbecue-cooking-feasting fiestas has got me missing home. Love you mom and dad!

Yep, two crazies!

and more...

Hi mom!