Hometown
O’ahu, Hawai’i
Voyage(s)
Moananuiākea Voyage – Leg 14 | Hikianalia: Tahiti to Rarotonga
Bio
Kaniela’s voyaging canoe lineage goes back to Hōkūleʻaʻs beginnings. His mother, Marion Lyman-Mersereau was one of the volunteers who worked on Hōkūleʻa as she was being built in 1975. She went on to be a crew member on Hōkūleʻaʻs voyage in 1978 when we lost Eddie Aikau, and she crewed on the 1980 voyage to Tahiti. Kaniela’s uncles David and Kimo were on Hōkūleʻa’s maiden voyage in 1976.
For Kaniela, he says his first time ever sailing on a waʻa kaulua was on Hōkūleʻa in 2009. He was in the captain’s training program conducted by the late Kaʻau McKinney who was a Hōkūleʻa crew member and navigator.
Kaniela himself has been on many voyages including on Hikianalia’s voyage to California, on the Mālama Honua Worldwide Voyage, and now he is a Captain on the Moananuiākea Voyage. Kaniela says “kuleana” is why he wants to be a part of the voyage, and the kuleana of the voyage inspires him. He hopes that voyaging will inspire “more care for place and people.” And he practices this kuleana in his profession as the Lead Teacher for a High School Voyaging Program.
So perhaps it’s not surprising that he offers just one simple, yet powerful, word when asked what Hōkūleʻa means to him: “Kumu.”
When voyaging, Kaniela says he craves “time with my family.” And when heʻs back in his everyday life on land, he misses the “simplicity” of being at sea.
For Kaniela, he says his first time ever sailing on a waʻa kaulua was on Hōkūleʻa in 2009. He was in the captain’s training program conducted by the late Kaʻau McKinney who was a Hōkūleʻa crew member and navigator.
Kaniela himself has been on many voyages including on Hikianalia’s voyage to California, on the Mālama Honua Worldwide Voyage, and now he is a Captain on the Moananuiākea Voyage. Kaniela says “kuleana” is why he wants to be a part of the voyage, and the kuleana of the voyage inspires him. He hopes that voyaging will inspire “more care for place and people.” And he practices this kuleana in his profession as the Lead Teacher for a High School Voyaging Program.
So perhaps it’s not surprising that he offers just one simple, yet powerful, word when asked what Hōkūleʻa means to him: “Kumu.”
When voyaging, Kaniela says he craves “time with my family.” And when heʻs back in his everyday life on land, he misses the “simplicity” of being at sea.