Hometown
Maui and Oʻahu
Voyage(s)
Moananuiākea Voyage – Leg 2: Yakutat to Juneau, Moananuiākea Voyage – Leg 4: Ketchikan to Prince Rupert, Moananuiākea Voyage – Leg 7: Tacoma to San Francisco, North Pacific Gyre
Bio
Kaiwi tells us “Ua hānau ʻia au i Maui, he kupa au a Koʻolaupoko, i ke oho a ka Malanai, i ka ʻāina kaulana na ka ʻai lepo a Kawainui, ʻo ia hoʻi, i Kailua” or that he was “born on Maui, but raised in Koʻolaupoko, Kailua, with the winds of Malanai, in the famous edible mud lands of Kawainui.”
Kaiwi also recounts “I ka makahiki 2009, i kaʻu kula kiʻekiʻe ana o ke kula ʻo Kamehameha ma Kapālama, ʻo ia ka manawa aʻu i holo mua i ka waʻa ʻo Hōkūleʻa. Hoʻomanaʻo ihola, he huakaʻi iki i ke kapakai mai Mokauea I Laeʻahi a ka hoʻina. Pā iho ka naʻau me ka haʻahaʻa, a ʻupu aʻe ka manaʻo, ʻakahi nō au a ʻike i ka nani o ka waʻa.” Or that in 2009 he first sailed on Hōkūleʻa while he was a student at Kamehameha Kapālama. “I remembered that it was a short coastal sail from Mokauea to Laeʻahi and back. It was a humbling experience in seeing the beauty of voyaging and the canoe.”
Two years later, Kaiwi started training as a crew member, then sailed on the Mālama Honua Worldwide Voyage and served as a PVS education assistant. He is now a kumu ʻōlelo Hawaiʻi (teacher of the Hawaiian language) and a crew member on the Moananuiākea Voyage. He says, “As a Hawaiian, the art of voyaging helps the world to understand how intricate, interconnected, intuitive, and intelligent Pacific peoples were and continue to be.” He says Moananuiākea “is another gift that Hawaiʻi can give to the world in continuing to connect and inspire people to mālama (take care) and ʻauamo kuleana (taking responsibility) of our natural world and our communities.” He says the hope is to continue to inspire change.
When Kaiwi is out at sea his shares a craving many crew members have - ice cream. When back on land he misses his voyaging ʻohana.
Kaiwi also recounts “I ka makahiki 2009, i kaʻu kula kiʻekiʻe ana o ke kula ʻo Kamehameha ma Kapālama, ʻo ia ka manawa aʻu i holo mua i ka waʻa ʻo Hōkūleʻa. Hoʻomanaʻo ihola, he huakaʻi iki i ke kapakai mai Mokauea I Laeʻahi a ka hoʻina. Pā iho ka naʻau me ka haʻahaʻa, a ʻupu aʻe ka manaʻo, ʻakahi nō au a ʻike i ka nani o ka waʻa.” Or that in 2009 he first sailed on Hōkūleʻa while he was a student at Kamehameha Kapālama. “I remembered that it was a short coastal sail from Mokauea to Laeʻahi and back. It was a humbling experience in seeing the beauty of voyaging and the canoe.”
Two years later, Kaiwi started training as a crew member, then sailed on the Mālama Honua Worldwide Voyage and served as a PVS education assistant. He is now a kumu ʻōlelo Hawaiʻi (teacher of the Hawaiian language) and a crew member on the Moananuiākea Voyage. He says, “As a Hawaiian, the art of voyaging helps the world to understand how intricate, interconnected, intuitive, and intelligent Pacific peoples were and continue to be.” He says Moananuiākea “is another gift that Hawaiʻi can give to the world in continuing to connect and inspire people to mālama (take care) and ʻauamo kuleana (taking responsibility) of our natural world and our communities.” He says the hope is to continue to inspire change.
When Kaiwi is out at sea his shares a craving many crew members have - ice cream. When back on land he misses his voyaging ʻohana.