Kama Hele Morning Report

Aloha kākou,

Local winds continue to unexpectedly feature a southerly component that preclude Hōkūle‘a and Kama Hele from sailing a direct course to Palmyra.  The low-pressure system that is causing the southerly winds is a very unusual phenomenon and was not predicted.

In a situation such as the one we are facing, the ancients may have folded their sails and bided their time quite safely at sea until conditions allowed resuming their course.  Or they could have made an exhausting series of wide shallow tacks (sailing across the wind in zigzag tangents diagonal to their route), as Hōkūle‘a, Maisu and Kama Hele did in 2007 on their way to Johnston Atoll enroute to Satawal and Japan.  I remember one day we sailed over 100 nautical miles in order to gain three nautical miles toward Johnston.  Bruce Blankenfeld was also the navigator on that leg, as he is on this voyage.  After days of sailing back and forth, we on the escort boat, who had clear vision of what was happening via our GPS (Global Positioning Satellite System), wondered how Bruce could possibly know his position through noninstrument dead reckoning.  I was amazed that on the first day the winds allowed, Hōkūle‘a turned directly toward Johnston and sailed up to the atoll.

We are prevented on this voyage from adopting either of the strategies the ancestors might have used by factors they did not face:

• We need to have adequate time on Palmyra to complete our educational mission and objectives.
• We cannot reschedule the chartered crew-change flight to Palmyra on March 20 and return to Honolulu on March 21.

PVS has committed to several crewmembers to be back in Honolulu no later than Saturday night, March 21.   Among our selfless and courageous volunteer crew, we have a firefighter, educators, a colonel in the Hawai’i National Guard, a senior hotel manager from Maui and others who have already stretched their ability to be away from their primary responsibilities by the weather-induced delay in our departure.

I have not talked to Bruce about the “why” of his decision to tow.  He is a respected leader of many deep-sea voyages and we have unquestioning faith in his decisions at all times.  An,d I know that he, above all others, shares our feelings that we HATE to tow.  Escort boats routinely tow replica voyaging canoes away from docks and in and out of small harbors and channels, but once out to sea, the canoes are meant to sail and that’s the only time we are truly happy.

That’s why we face the manageable risks and discomforts of long deep-sea voyages.  But, there are times when the right decision is to tow against the wind to (a) escape developing bad weather such as typhoons or hurricanes or (b) meet pressing schedules.

Another point is that the training objectives of this sail are in no way compromised by some portion of the voyage being under tow.  When towing, escort vessels NEVER determine the direction of travel. Navigators aboard the canoes are always responsible for the direction of travel.   Course headings and changes are transmitted by VHF radio from the canoe to the towing escort, as was done on two occasions during last night’s tow.  The crew training aboard Hōkūle‘a must still steer the canoe so as to remain directly behind the escort boat (maybe harder than holding a line by the stars or swells).  They have to prepare meals on a pitching deck, pump water from the hulls, care for the rigging and overall condition of the canoe, etc.  And, they need to be trained on towing, something we prefer to do at home but it’s different out here and they need to experience towing at sea.

I apologize for this long-winded description of what’s going on.  I know that Nainoa and Ramona understand and fully support leadership’s decisions, but I also know these reports are used to update the worldwide voyage website, inform the media, etc.  I want the many, many people who support our activities and make our voyages possible to understand the decisions of our qualified and responsible leadership.

On the most important note, the purpose of this voyage is to develop top-notch trained crew and leadership for the worldwide voyage and that is being accomplished extremely well.  Bruce reports marked daily improvement in steering, life aboard the canoe and all the other skills the voyagers need.  Every experience is an important learning opportunity and this largely-young crew, most on their first foray outside the main eight Hawaiian Islands is doing exceptionally well at capitalizing on this amazing opportunity.  I have escorted the canoes over 12,000 nautical miles and, from our vantage point aboard Kama Hele, they look just fine.  I would sail with any or all of them anytime, anywhere.

Despite 7/8-cloud coverage of thick billowing cumulus all night, we were again extremely fortunate that numerous strategic gaps opened fairly frequently and briefly revealed the setting Ke Ka O Makali‘i starline, Hōkūpa‘a (Polaris or North Star) and the always beautiful and inspirational Hānaiakamālama (Southern Cross) at the meridian.  Their appearance, disappearance and reappearance put on an amazing show all night long.

Several very ominous squalls raged to our east and southeast.  One monster erupted on our radar as a huge yellow blob befitting an aircraft carrier. Luckily, our line carried us about 1-½ miles west of trouble.

date-time group 150640 HST March 2009;  position 13 degrees 33.70 minutes North 158 degrees 48.05 minutes West

nm since sunset -  72.9 nm on a bearing of 189 degrees True
avg speed   6.1 knots (under tow at 2300 rpm)
distance and bearing to Palmyra 499.9 nm, 203 degrees True
distance and bearing back to Sand Island 469 nm, 06 degrees True

Sunrise reports from both vessels indicated vessels and crews are fine.  At 6:40 am, we were under tow at 2300 rpm surfing following swells on a course of 189 degrees True and making 6+ knots at that time.

Winds: SE 5 knots
Sea state:  NE swell 4 ft, NW swell 3 ft
Clouds:  7/8 cumulus burning off to mostly sunny and fine weather.
Avoided nearby squalls but no rain on us through the night.

Aloha,

Mike Taylor, Kama Hele escort boat