Crew Profile

Kaiola Yuen

Hometown

Kailua, Oʻahu

Voyage(s)

Moananuiākea Voyage – Leg 6: Vancouver to Seattle

Bio

Sailing is in Kaiolaʻs blood. He is the son of veteran Hōkūleʻa crew member Gary Yuen and his first time sailing on a waʻa kaulua was as a 6 or 7 year old on Hōkūleʻa. He is now a Merchant Marine. To Kaiola, Hōkūleʻa means “a connection to my ancestors/culture as well as my dad.”

Kaiola says he looks forward to learning “about other native cultures around the world” during the Moananuiākea Voyage. He says through voyaging he hopes to see “better care taken of our oceans and better practices while harvesting fish and other things from the ocean.”

For Kaiola, there is so much to love about being at sea. Experiences are different every day, he says, as well as the “chance to catch fish we donʻt have in Hawaiʻi.” When he is back at home in his everyday life he misses “the adventure” of being at sea and “the sound of the waves on the hull and the rock of the boat.”