by Jonathan Salvador | Aug 21, 2025 | Crew Reflection
I felt greatly honored and privileged to be invited to represent the PolynesianVoyaging Society as a crewmember on Hōkūleʻa on LEG 14 of the Moananuiākea Voyage inFrench Polynesia and Cook Islands this summer from July 19 to August 23. As a new crewmember, I am...
by Jonathan Salvador | Jul 15, 2025 | Crew Reflection
In the Kumulipo, an ancient Hawaiian chant of creation, life begins in the depths of Pō, emerging first as coral, seaweed, and creatures of the ocean. Modern science tells us that over 3.4 billion years ago, photosynthetic microbes (ancestors of early phytoplankton)...
by Jonathan Salvador | Jul 12, 2025 | Crew Reflection
The night before our departure to Mo’orea, a quiet sense of heaviness settled over the crew and the community as we gathered for a final dinner in Mataiea. In just a short time, we had been embraced, cared for, and made to feel like family by our new ʻohana. The...
by Jonathan Salvador | Jul 9, 2025 | Crew Reflection
Ia orana! It is Wednesday, July 9th. I am on the deck of the Hōkūleʻa, sitting on a black pelican case typing on the keyboard, searching for the words to describe the experience we have had in Mataiea over the past few days. We never could have anticipated the...
by Jonathan Salvador | Jul 5, 2025 | Crew Reflection
As soon as we arrived in Papeʻete and made it to where Hōkūleʻa and Hikianalia were docked, we were greeted by Faʻafaite crew members with, “Welcome home.” I didn’t think much of it at the time, I just knew that this was a very special time to be in Tahiti – the...