for those tracking Maizu canoe, it arrived yesterday in Ngulu (between yap and palau) safely (we have a large Typhoon out her right now , typhoon Rammasun, and it is very sloppy , gnarly weather..) . I gave sessario and crew the weather over HF this morning and advised them to hang in the Ngulu lagoon until tomorrow ....they had no word on the typhoon...lucky boys they got to a radio...they are headed back to yap

In palau , they fixed up the railings and did some repairs, good to see the canoe at sea...

enjoy the weekend/bb

The launch of Hokule`a on April 8 concluded dry dock. Many, many thank you’s to all our wonderful volunteers who gave up weekends and evenings to kokua Hokule`a dry dock. Everyone did an awesome job!!
She is now in the water and will begin coastal sails, including training of our captains, navigators and crew.

Ramona

The dry dock schedule is:

Wednesday’s 6 – 9 pm
Saturday’s 9:30 am – 4 pm.

Bruce Blankenfeld, Coordinator

Polynesian Voyaging Society
10 Sand Island Parkway
Honolulu, HI 96819

Our new phone number after February 27 will be (808) 842-1101 and (808) 842-1112 (fax).

Hokule’a has been in the water for 14 months and PVS president Nainoa Thompson says “although she is structurally in very good shape and is seaworthy, we pushed her hard and she sailed hard and it’s time to care for her. It’s more an expression of care and respect for the canoe. We sailed her hard and she took care of us.”

In addition to the more than 180 crewmembers who sailed Hokule’a during the voyage, when Hokule’a came home, more than 1,000 people sailed her, many children, during community and education-based sails. Hokule’a will be in dry dock for touch-ups and painting, which are scheduled to be completed by mid-April. After drydock, Hokule’a will embark on a 7 month, 3,000 mile statewide sail to 26 communities to continue PVS’ education and outreach programs and to train the next generation of crew leadership.

Ka’iulani Murphy notes: "Now that she's safely on dry land, we're planning work parties on Saturdays beginning next week Sat, 1/26. Work will be from 9:30am till pau, at least by 4:30pm. If a group of 5 or more would like to volunteer, or if volunteers would like to help on a weekday, contact the PVS office 536-8405 or pvshawaii@hawaiiantel.net"

"Most of the work to be done involves sanding and varnishing, so come prepared to get a little dusty. If you have rags or plastic cups for varnish (old yogurt cups) that you could bring, it would help a bunch. Lunch will be provided for volunteers on Saturdays. Look forward to seeing you down here!"

“Gaia Symphony No. 3,” a documentary series produced by Jin Tatsumura and featuring Hokule'a navigator Nainoa Thompson, Michio Hoshino (Wildlife photographer, Japan) and Freeman Dyson (Physicist, USA), will premiere in Hawai'i in October.

The Friends of “Gaia Symphony,” a part of the Honolulu Foundation, has scheduled a screening at the Doris Duke Theatre of the Honolulu Academy of Arts on Saturday, October 27 at 2 pm. (Sold out.). A second screening will be held on Sunday, October 28, at 2 pm in Spalding Auditorium at the University of Hawai‘i at Manoa. Director Tatsumura will be at the screenings. Tatsumura and Thompson are scheduled for short talks at a Friends of “Gaia Symphony” reception and dinner at the Halekulani Hotel on October 26 (Friday) to raise funds in support of the activities of Thompson and the Polynesian Voyaging Society who are nourishing the Hawaiian cultural heritage.

Tickets for the screenings ($10) are available at Catch USA, located on the second floor of the Waikiki Trade Center, and through the members of Friends of “Gaia Symphony.”

For information about the “Gaia Symphony No. 3” screening and the reception/dinner, call (808) 457-1740, fax to (808) 732-8430, or email gaia3@honolulufoundation.org.

From the Gaia Symphony Website: "Gaia Symphony No. 3 is dedicated to the late Michio Hoshino, a photographer of Alaskan wildlife, who died immediately before the production of this film started, in which he was to appear. The film traces Hoshino's life and death while introducing people surrounding him, such as a native American storyteller, a wildlife guide, a whale researcher, a canoe builder, and others, who chose to live their lives in the rhythms of nature. Their stories eloquently illustrate the eternal cycles of life on the Mother Earth, Gaia.

Freeman Dyson, an astrophysicist and a mathematician, talks about the meaning of life circulating in a cosmic scale through his broad scientific view and deep insight into human nature. Nainoa Thompson, a native Hawaiian ocean canoe navigator, expresses the importance of knowing and perpetuating the wisdom possessed by our ancestors. Gaia Symphony No. 3 depicts wondrous connections and interactions, from ancient times through the present day, between the native peoples of Alaska, Hawai'i and northern Japan all linked by the Pacific Ocean. It awakens our deeply-stored memory from over five thousand years ago, and takes our thoughts to the "mind of Gaia" and the "mystery of life."

The “Gaia Symphony” documentary film series—the first section of which was released in Japan in 1992—delivers the message that planet earth is a living organism and we humans are given lives as part of that organism. This strong message captivated the hearts of many viewers who were interested in environmental protection as well as the relationship between the earth and people, and eventually led to the production of a total of six films to date. Films in the “Gaia Symphony” series have been presented in many places, both inside and outside Japan solely on a non-profit basis. Indeed, the series is a hidden, enduring hit that has not resorted to commercial distribution.

From a Bishop Museum Press Release:

"As a young scholar of Polynesian anthropology, Bishop Museum ethnologist Kenneth Emory conducted ground-breaking fieldwork in the Tuamotus in the early 1930s. Little did he know that several stone adzes (hafted woodworking tool) he obtained then, would solve one of the long-standing problems in ancient Polynesian migration and trade.

"Although Hawaiian oral histories mention voyaging from Hawai‘i to Tahiti and back via the Tuamotus, a total open ocean journey of more than 8,000 kilometers, until now, no objects originating from Hawai’i had ever been identified in central Polynesia.

"This mystery has now been solved in a paper titled "Stone Adze Compositions and the Extent of Ancient Polynesian Voyaging and Trade" that was published in today's issue of the prestigious journal Science.

"Volcanic rocks do not naturally occur on the low coral atolls of the Tuamotus. The lead isotope composition and trace element chemistry of one adze shows that it was manufactured from a volcanic rock that came from Hawai‘i, rather than from a volcanic island in central Polynesia."

For the full text of the article (with a photo of the adze), visit the Bishop Museum Website: Unraveling the Mystery: The Hawaii and Tuamotus Connection

Dave Hansford
for National Geographic News
September 27, 2007
Early Polynesians sailed thousands of miles for exploration and trade, suggests a new study of early stone woodworking tools.

The analysis confirms traditional tales of vast ocean voyages and hints that a trading network existed between Hawaii and Tahiti as early as a thousand years ago.

For the full text of the article, see Early Polynesians Sailed Thousands of Miles for Trade at the National Geographic News website.

"Two issues long debated among Pacific and American prehistorians are (i) whether there was a pre-Columbian introduction of chicken (Gallus gallus) to the Americas and (ii) whether Polynesian contact with South America might be identified archaeologically, through the recovery of remains of unquestionable Polynesian origin. We present a radiocarbon date and an ancient DNA sequence from a single chicken bone recovered from the archaeological site of El Arenal-1, on the Arauco Peninsula, Chile. These results not only provide firm evidence for the pre-Columbian introduction of chickens to the Americas, but strongly suggest that it was a Polynesian introduction."

For the full article, see "Radiocarbon and DNA evidence for a pre-Columbian introduction of Polynesian chickens to Chile."

Jose's email request for references to sewn-plank canoes: "I've been working on the prehispanic chicken in southern Chile for the last 2 years. Some colleagues found the first chicken bones in Arauco, and a Lisa Matisoo-Smith's PhD student found Polynesian DNA on it. So, for the very first time, a Polynesian contact with the continent has been proved, at last. We are already working to find more materials, but this is the very hard evidence to test the old hypothesis. As somebody said at the Conference, if they were sailing eastwards, they could not miss America.

"I am attaching the paper published recently on the Journal of the National Academy of Sciences.

"Among the many parallels between Southern Chile and Polynesia, the sewn-plank canoe is one of the most intriguing item. It is also found in Southern California, but I am not sure how they look like either. Do you know of a good reference for any of them? To my knowledge, the real plank canoe is not Polynesian but Micronesian. The late canoes on Easter Island were made out of little pieces os wood, or boards, not planks, since there was no big trees to make planks.

"Anyway, it is time to celebrate and to serioulsly think of sailing Hokule'a--or someone else--to southern Chile."