...SMALL CRAFT ADVISORY NOW IN EFFECT UNTIL 6 AM HST THURSDAY...
* WHAT...East winds 20 to 30 kt.
* WHERE...Oahu Leeward Waters, Kaiwi Channel, Maui County
Windward Waters, Maalaea Bay, Pailolo Channel, Alenuihaha
Channel, Big Island Leeward Waters and Big Island Southeast
Waters.
* WHEN...Until 6 AM HST Thursday.
* IMPACTS...Conditions will be hazardous to small craft.
PRECAUTIONARY/PREPAREDNESS ACTIONS...
Inexperienced mariners, especially those operating smaller
vessels, should avoid navigating in these conditions.
&&
Hokulea crew members were welcomed back to Oahu by friends and family.
Jeremy Lee joined KITV after over a decade & a half in broadcast news from coast to coast on the mainland. Jeremy most recently traveled the country documenting protests & civil unrest.
Hokulea crew members were welcomed back to Oahu by friends and family.
Voyaging crews return home to Oahu from Tahiti
HONOLULU-- It was about a quarter to 7pm Thursday, when members of the Polynesian Voyaging Society could be seen waving from afar. Many of their loved ones hadn't seen them since April 11th.
This last leg of the trip taking about 3 1/2 weeks to return from Tahiti back home to Oahu. The route stretches over 2,500 miles each way.
"My son was very excited he misses her a lot. He was very emotional. Excited and happy to see mom," Joe Batangan told KITV 4.
"For me as a non Native Hawaiian holding space for others, I know its my Kuleana to do right by the community, so it has been amazing, a great learning experience that I hope my kids can enjoy one day," Philamer Felicitas said after reuniting with her son and her husband, Joe.
Crew members did get some relaxation time in Tahiti with cultural exchanges and also taking part in the Blue Climate summit. Noland Keaulana told KITV how his grandfather, Buffalo Keaulana, made the original 1976 trip which was met with large crowds greeting the original voyagers
"When we were making landings. At different places and all these people inviting us in. I had the same feeling like wow, my grandfather went through all of this. And, very emotional," Keaulana said.
The epic ancestral route followed by the Polynesian Voyaging Society is something of a training voyage for an even more epic journey, Moana Nui Akena. That voyage is set to depart next May and will last approximately 3 years
"Voyaging in this way gives us the opportunity to learn about ourselves, how to voyage in the traditional way, with the stars the moon, the waves, its just a lot of learning," Kaiwi Hamakua-Makue said.
The voyaging canoes Hokulea and Hikianalia and their crews return to Oahu after a more than two-month trip across the Pacific.
Do you have a story idea? Email news tips to news@kitv.com
Jeremy Lee joined KITV after over a decade & a half in broadcast news from coast to coast on the mainland. Jeremy most recently traveled the country documenting protests & civil unrest.
