The lively gathering of the second leg crew of the World Wide Voyage at Gates Theater on Saturday September 13th, was a way to say mahalo to family, friends and the Waimea community. The message from the crew was all about connections, legacy and aloha. Dubbed “The Fantastic Voyage”, Pwo navigator and Captain Chadd Onohi Paishon observed, “…it quickly became apparent to us that we were two canoes connected by the ocean, that we were all traveling together as one.” Or as crew member John Kruz put it, “We killed it.” For the next two hours crew members shared their own legacies and connections through stories, chants, and multi-media entertainment. A sense of many faceted connections was the spirit that guided this multi-generational microcosm from Tahiti through the Cook Islands to Pago Pago, Samoa. Before sharing the first of three photo journeys, Kaimana Bacarse observed, “We called this the “Fantastic Voyage” and it really was. It really changed the lives of every single one that was on the wa`a. Now we're here to share the story that really hit us in the na`au. So we're going to start off telling the story of the islands that we went to in the way that our kūpuna would normally do it,” with a chant.
Kaimana Bacarse The story chant of the “Fantastic Voyage” will be added on to the chant relating the voyages of Hōkūle`a, an important protocol. The crew found out just how important when they were approaching Mo`orea. Bacarse relates, “We went north, around the island and had a beautiful amazingly easy sail. We get to Mo`orea. Everything's beautiful [but] we come through the pass as strangers because we did not announce our arrival. The winds picked up and it started smoking. We came around into the bay We were able to tuck in and it got us thinking, but we didn't think enough at that time because when we went around to go to the pier, the winds came again, really, really strong. But then we realized that the wind was there, the weather was like that because the kūpuna of that land did not know the kūpuna we brought with us.”
The crew was a special blend of original and first time voyagers, creating a flow of knowledge and experience and a sense of unbroken continuity. “We did what Maui did. We connected a lei of islands. We strung together a lei of islands from French Polynesia to the Cook Islands to Samoa. For these are the highways of our ancestors and what's connecting our generations. The beauty of this voyage for many was that transference of knowledge. That transference of mana (spirit), that sharing of aloha between generations,” Bacarse said.
The crew was a special blend of original and first time voyagers, creating a flow of knowledge and experience and a sense of unbroken continuity. “We did what Maui did. We connected a lei of islands. We strung together a lei of islands from French Polynesia to the Cook Islands to Samoa. For these are the highways of our ancestors and what's connecting our generations. The beauty of this voyage for many was that transference of knowledge. That transference of mana (spirit), that sharing of aloha between generations,” Bacarse said.
Cesi Hao Sailing west, back through the Pacific is to experience origins and cultural history, but the crew experienced a chicken skin connection with a piece of Hōkūle`a history when they arrived at Taha`a. Original Hōkūle`a crew member John Kruz shares, “We pulled into Taha`a and it was in the afternoon and so we were throwing the lines out and everybody stopped for a moment because the guy that caught the line, here was a young guy the spitting image of Eddie Aikau. When we left he came out on a small boat, on the back and he gave me the shaka sign. It was a touching moment for me because I was on that crew in 1978 when we lost Eddie.”
Voyaging connects the navigator and crew with the natural world in both tangible and intangible ways. To navigate and survive the navigator has to read the physical signs of the oceanic world, but there are times when it is the intangible spiritual connections that bring the canoe into port. Cesi Hao, apprentice navigator was fortunate to experience this. “Earlier in the morning at the end of our trip, I saw Manu'a, our target island. I could see it looked like a grey cloud but I could tell it wasn't because it had a sharp cut off. It looked like a cone. So I looked over at Tua [Pittman] and he said, 'Keep it in your mind because as soon as the sun gets higher, you're going to lose it.' So I held on to it but as I was trying to capture where it was, this huge squall comes from behind, takes out the sun. By the time we were going to arrive it was complete cloud cover, pouring rain and I looked at Tua and I said, 'I 'm lost. I don't know where I am.’ And he said, 'Now's the time to throw everything you know out. Whatever you know, what you see throw it out. You feel your way home.' We don't just go off of the physical things around our environment. You rely upon akua and you rely upon your ancestors to guide you. Because in that moment when you have nothing else left they're what's going to pull you through.” Hikianalia with her GPS was going a different direction and was soon lost from sight in a squall, but Hao had to ignore the visual evidence and call out to other guidance to select the correct one of three squalls. “It was almost like picking a lucky door. Which door is that island behind? So I looked and I said, 'I feel that it's this squall here.' and the island was waiting for them on the other side of the squall. “That's from having nothing else. No stars, hiding from the sun. Not even the wind can tell you. You follow your na'au. You follow the voice of the ancestors.”
Voyaging connects the navigator and crew with the natural world in both tangible and intangible ways. To navigate and survive the navigator has to read the physical signs of the oceanic world, but there are times when it is the intangible spiritual connections that bring the canoe into port. Cesi Hao, apprentice navigator was fortunate to experience this. “Earlier in the morning at the end of our trip, I saw Manu'a, our target island. I could see it looked like a grey cloud but I could tell it wasn't because it had a sharp cut off. It looked like a cone. So I looked over at Tua [Pittman] and he said, 'Keep it in your mind because as soon as the sun gets higher, you're going to lose it.' So I held on to it but as I was trying to capture where it was, this huge squall comes from behind, takes out the sun. By the time we were going to arrive it was complete cloud cover, pouring rain and I looked at Tua and I said, 'I 'm lost. I don't know where I am.’ And he said, 'Now's the time to throw everything you know out. Whatever you know, what you see throw it out. You feel your way home.' We don't just go off of the physical things around our environment. You rely upon akua and you rely upon your ancestors to guide you. Because in that moment when you have nothing else left they're what's going to pull you through.” Hikianalia with her GPS was going a different direction and was soon lost from sight in a squall, but Hao had to ignore the visual evidence and call out to other guidance to select the correct one of three squalls. “It was almost like picking a lucky door. Which door is that island behind? So I looked and I said, 'I feel that it's this squall here.' and the island was waiting for them on the other side of the squall. “That's from having nothing else. No stars, hiding from the sun. Not even the wind can tell you. You follow your na'au. You follow the voice of the ancestors.”
Maulili Dickson, Chadd Paishon, Kalani Kahalioumi Voyaging is a way of life that perpetuates the aloha spirit and inspires meaningful connections across the Pacific and in the next three years across the planet. But the voyagers all know that they wouldn’t be standing on the deck of the canoe without their community crew. Chadd Paishon sums it up, “We had a fantastic voyage and the voyage continues and there's still more legs ahead. For each of us that stands on the deck of the canoe, there's at least a hundred people standing behind and beside us. When we were on the voyage there was this overwhelming feeling that we needed to come home and share with our community what we did with our gift of aloha.” It was a noisy talk story session with the youngest crew flowing in front of the stage and at times, tsunami like up on the stage. But at the closing, rather than being considered a distraction, they were acknowledged by Pomai Bertelmann with, “This is what we do this for.”
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