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The Honolulu Advertiser
Posted on: Tuesday, August 6, 2002

Help needed with major Hokule'a overhaul

 •  Big graphic (opens in new window): Repairing the Hokule'a

By Kapono Dowson
Advertiser Staff Writer

The voyaging canoe Hokule'a, which helped inspire a Hawaiian cultural renaissance, is undergoing its most extensive overhaul since first setting sail 27 years ago.

Russell Amimoto works on the Hokule'a in drydock on Sand Island, where it is expected to remain all year.

Deborah Booker • The Honolulu Advertiser

Work to repair dry rot and other items will cost $100,000 and require almost 4,000 hours of labor, according to Polynesian Voyaging Society officials.

"The Hokule'a was meant to sail only once," navigator Nainoa Thompson said. "But she has sailed 90,000 nautical miles — six major voyages across the South Pacific and to the continental United States."

When he first sailed her to Tahiti in 1975, "Hawaiianness was considered second rate," Thompson said. "The Hokule'a raised pride and became symbols for Hawai'i's children."

The society put the Hokule'a in dry dock last December after a routine maintenance marine survey found massive dry rot damage throughout the canoe, said Paul Duarte, executive director of the Polynesian Voyaging Society.

The group had hoped the Hokule'a would sail again in June, but experts don't expect the canoe out of dry dock until December or January, Duarte said.

The society made an urgent request for community assistance yesterday at the Hawaii Maritime Center.

How to help

Tax-deductible contributions may be sent to:

Polynesian Voyaging Society 191 Ala Moana Blvd., Pier 7, Honolulu, HI 96813.

To volunteer your labor, call the society at 536-8405.

The Polynesian Voyaging Society has come up with nearly $50,000 from private sources, but still needs $50,000 more, Duarte said.

"We're about 60 percent completed. We're well over 2,000 man-hours and in need of more," he added.

Workers have repaired much of the rot already, chiseling it out, then patching, sanding and fiberglassing over repaired areas.

Workers have replaced deck planks, but must still refurbish storage shells where sailors sleep. The shells are made of fiberglass and covered in wood.

"We thought it was just going to be a repaint and revarnish job, but it is bigger than we ever expected," said Russell Amimoto, the coordinating dry dock manager for the Hokule'a.

Amimoto, 24, sailed on the Hokule'a for 27 days in 1999-2000 from Hilo to the Marquesas.

Workers have intricately lashed 3/8-inch Dacron cording across the 'iako — curved wooden crossbeams — that link the canoe's double hulls. It takes 14 to 16 people three to four hours to pull the lashing through, keeping it taut enough to weave and knot, Amimoto said.

In all, workers are replacing 36,960 feet of lashing.

Workers have completed refurbishing one manu ihu — the canoe's curved bow end piece — and have one on the starboard left to complete. The canoe will need new sails, rigging and canvas covers for the upper deck.

"My dad (the late Myron "Pinky" Thompson) would say Hokule'a can't sail without your community behind you," Thompson said. "Community is not defined by race or geography but rather coming together around something shared."

The Polynesian Voyaging Society was founded in the early 1970s, originally to disprove the accepted stance that the ancient Polynesians were incapable of purposefully settling the Pacific. Hokule'a continues to be one of the most recognizable cultural icons in Hawai'i.

The society built Hokule'a as an accurate, performing version of a traditional Polynesian voyaging canoe. It sailed without modern navigational instrumentation.

Duarte said the Zippy's restaurant chain has begun a promotion to help raise money for the Hokule'a. The company will donate a portion of the proceeds from certain menu items.

In addition, grants from the Bishop Museum, NASA, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Atherton Foundation and Campbell Foundation will be used for restoration and educational programs.

Reach Kapono Dowson at kdowson@honoluluadvertiser.com or 535-8103.