After being in dry dock for three years behind the BYU-Hawaii dormitories, the university's 57-foot traditional wa'a kaulua or twin-hulled Hawaiian sailing canoe, Iosepa, spent several weeks sailing from Hukilau Beach along Windward Oahu and, as of June 2, was preparing to sail to the Big Island.

When Iosepa returns, the beautifully crafted vessel first launched in 2001 will make its home in the Polynesian Cultural Center's Hawaiian village, where it will be available to the university, community and visitors when it's not sailing.

In between, co-captains Kamoa'e Walk and Kawika Eskaran, with a crew of 10 BYUH Hawaiian Studies students, plan to spend several weeks in Kawaihae training with the Makali'i and its sister canoe from Kualoa, Kanehunamoku. The 28-foot Laie-based escort vessel Nihipora, owned and operated by William K. Wallace IV — son of BYUH Hawaiian Studies Director William K. "Uncle Bill" Wallace III — will also make the journey.

Eskaran — Hawaiian Studies Administrative Assistant, Special Projects Coordinator and master carver along with Tuione Pulotu — explained the Makali'i family has been helping and training Iosepa from the very beginning. They also invited him and Walk to participate in a historic sail about a year ago when the first modern Hawaiian sailing canoe, Hokulea, accompanied the 54-foot Alingano Maisu from Hawaii to Satawal in the Caroline Islands.

The Makali'i family made the Maisu in honor of Pius "Papa Mau" Mau Piailug, a traditional Micronesian navigator who restored non-instrument wayfinding among the Polynesians, starting in 1976 with Hokulea. Eskaran spent six weeks at sea, while Walk put in 10 weeks.

"Being on Maisu was a great learning experience and practice, too," Eskaran said. "Kamoa'e and I, on one of the Maisu's last sails, were the captains. We were doing it a little hesitantly, while the others were on the escort, watching. This time around on Iosepa I feel like we're clicking. We're sailing almost without any hesitation or fear. Even in the larger swells, it's exhilarating."

"We learned in practice what we had learned in theory about navigation and about sailing in the open ocean," Walk added. "Having those experiences greatly increased our abilities in what we're doing. We've been training for years, and every time it increases our knowledge and allows us to do more. So, this is a wonderful opportunity for us to be able to apply all of the training that we've had from Makali'i and also being on Maisu, and to share that with our students and help to increase the visibility and viability of our training program."

He also explained that during the "extensive period of dry dock we did a lot of work on the canoe that needed to be done, and got it to the point where we're confident that it's ready." This included repairs to the hulls, and a new spar and hollow-core mast "which gives it greater strength and lightens the weight."

Eskaran added that since the canoe went back into the water, "we've allowed Iosepa to ‘speak to us.' It's saying that it needs certain things and repairs. We're trying to get more speed out of Iosepa, so we're preparing the canoe in that way, to be able to sheet it up and get more tension in the sails. We're also preparing the crew in learning to tack."

"I have to say that the students we have right now are probably the best crew we've ever trained, the most prepared," he continued. "And personality-wise, everybody is meshing together really well. Their hearts are in it, and they've given us their all. We've gone through sleep deprivation. They have to know what that's like, to be able to work under stressful conditions with fatigue. It's hard, really hard; but it's also been so exciting and exhilarating. It's been wonderful."

Walk also praised the crew for the spiritual moments they've shared. "We've had spiritual moments on both the ocean and the land. We've had a lot of life-changing lessons and experiences," he said. "This group of students will definitely come out of the program with leadership skills far beyond what they thought they had to pass before. They have already pushed themselves beyond the limits that they had, and there are many more yet to go."

"They're also keeping journals for their classes, but which are really for them and their posterity, to help understand and know about these wonderful experiences they're having — the experiences that our kupuna [ancestors] had, the experiences that they have now in the ho'ailona, the signs that we get that our kupuna are with us every step of the way, from the rainbows to ‘iwa birds and promptings."

Walk paid tribute to "Uncle Bill" Wallace — original captain of the Iosepa, whose health doesn't permit him to sail — as well as his son. "We express our love for Uncle Bill. We can see that he wishes he could be with us. We wish he could be with us, also. We know he loves and support us, and has expressed that, and we look forward to the time when he'll be able to join us again and sail on Iosepa."

"Young William is also doing a fantastic job. We couldn't be more happy with his performance and the performance of the boat he has. It's wonderful because it allows us greater flexibility in our program to have the escort vessel here in our community. We're proud of him and the job he's doing to keep us safe."

"I am more indebted to the people who went before us, who took a chance on us, because they weren't sure," Eskaran said. "A lot of people have dreams that never come to fruition, but for us, we made it happen. It's the greatest feeling to know we've come this far, and we have much still to learn. We're also grateful for the community support and the excitement that Iosepa is building. They support us so much."

Eskaran also said Iosepa might stop at Kalaupapa, Molokai, on the return voyage to "make the connection between the Jonathan Napela Center for Hawaiian Language and Cultural Studies, and Napela, the namesake of our center, who spent the last years of his life dedicated to the service of others, particularly members of the Mormon Church, at Kalaupapa, the former leper colony."

— Iosepa photos by Monique Saenz, courtesy of BYU-Hawaii;
crew photo by Mike Foley

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