Advertiser staff writer Jan TenBruggencate served as a crewmember aboard Hokule'a during the voyaging canoe's trip through the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands. He took questions from readers during the journey and answered them here.

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Q. We saw Hokule'a from 1,500 feet overhead while it was laying a line off Ha'ena, Kaua'i. It was an incredible sight. Did you stay on that wind line for long?

A. We saw that helicopter passing overhead. Unfortunately, we were caught for an hour or so in the lee of Kaua'i, and we had several hours of light winds before getting out of the effects of the island. We're making landfall repeatedly as we go along. We had to bypass Mokumanamana, however, because a large east swell left no safe anchorage, even in the lee.

Q. Do you see any phosphorescence at night in your wake or elsewhere?

A. There has been quite a bit of phosphorescence. The little bits of glow run along the sides of the canoe as it moves through the water at night and swirls in our wake. When waves are big, they sometimes wash into open areas near the canoe's stern, and you can sometimes see bits of glow in the water there as it pours out the scuppers, which allow water to drain away from the vessel.

Q. Could you provide us with a little more background information on the navigator, Ka'iulani Murphy?

A. Murphy, 25, was raised in a farming family in Waimea, Hawai'i. As a child she worked in her mother's family taro patches in Waipi'o Valley. She remembers that her class took a field trip to see Hokule'a when she was in elementary school. In college, when she learned that Nainoa Thompson was teaching a navigation course, she took it. She has continued her navigation studies and has voyaged considerably. She has a degree in Hawaiian studies and is on the educational staff at the Polynesian Voyaging Society.

Q. What do you eat? Just fish? I love sashimi. I go to Hawai'i Kai Baptist Preschool and my mommy is reading about Hokule'a to me.

A. We have stored food in case we don't catch fish, but we've been lucky with two mahimahi, an 'ahi and an uku, a deep-sea snapper. We had mahimahi sashimi with a mayonnaise-wasabi-shoyu sauce.

Q. What is a typical lunch or supper? Is there any fishing or are you too busy?

A. Crewmember Leimomi Dierks recalls we've had granola and boxed soy milk for breakfast, and corned beef hash with onions, rice and scrambled eggs. For lunch, tuna and crackers with fresh fruit, but our fresh fruit is starting to go bad, so we'll be relying on canned and dried fruits. We have been catching fish, and that's been the main course for most dinners. We troll handlines behind the canoe during the day when we are away from land.

Q. How long will it take before you reach Midway?

A. We are stopping along the way, so it's not a direct sail, but we expect to reach Midway about June 10.

Q. What was the purpose of introducing rabbits onto some of the islands? Was this to provide a food source for sailors?

A. One old story I've heard is that they were left there by sailing ships to provide a food source for shipwrecked sailors. On Laysan Island, they were introduced by a man who hoped to establish a rabbit-canning business. The business failed, the rabbits ate virtually all the vegetation, and with the lost habitat, nesting opportunities for sea and land birds were lost. Laysan is now being revegetated.

Q. What is the primary role of the cultural specialist on board?

A. Our protocol officer, Keoni Kuoha, gives prayers, chants and leads the crew in greeting the islands as we sail along. "My job is to advise Nainoa on how to do it right, and then he makes the decision on what to do. Every culture has its own way of doing things. What I learned since I was a kid was that Hawaiians are really particular about how we do things," Kuoha said.

Q. Are the tides used to navigate at any time? How does neap tide and spring tide effect the voyage?

A. Nainoa Thompson, master navigator and captain of Hokule'a on this voyage, said he does not use tides when navigating in the deep ocean. They are more important when leaving or approaching land.

Q. What is the approximate cost of supplying and operating Hokule'a for this trip?

A. We don't have the books aboard that would provide accurate figures, but sailing master Bruce Blankenfeld said the entire cost for this trip is well in excess of $100,000. The money comes from grants, personal contributions to the Polynesian Voyaging Society, and funds from government agencies for specific programs.

Q. Is there any evidence of past cultures that attempted to settle on any of the Northwestern Islands?

A. There is evidence of former Polynesian use of two of the islands: Nihoa and Mokumanamana. Although we did not go ashore on either, we could see stone walls of the agricultural terraces on Nihoa, and the upright stones on the ridges of Mokumanamana. But archaeologists agree that neither is large enough nor has enough drinkable water to support a larger permanent population.

Q. I was raised in Hawai'i and relocated to California in 1983. I try to go to any Hawaiian events in the Bay Area. Several years ago I had the opportunity to see the Hokule'a in San Francisco while attending the San Francisco Aloha Festival in August. I was wondering if the Hokule'a will make a return trip?

A. Navigator Ka'iulani Murphy said there are no plans at this time for a return visit to San Francisco.

Q. In my oceanography class this semester at Fullerton College, I learned about the reefs dying, pollution in the waters, and dying species not being put on the endangered list. Will there be any study of any of these topics during this voyage? Are we working to put some of our precious animals on the endangered list?

A. Marine biologist Randy Kosaki said we're not doing original research on this trip. But there is plenty of research by private researchers and government agencies being done in the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands. The primary goal of the "Navigating Change" voyage is to help bring some of that information back to school kids and the wider public. Kosaki said few marine species qualify for the endangered species list, but there are quite a few endangered terrestrial species, such as the Nihoa finch and the Nihoa millerbird.

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