Crew Profile

Kayla Kalepa

Hometown

Lahaina, Maui, Hawaiʻi

Voyage(s)

North Pacific Gyre

Bio

Kayla is one of our youngest crew members and yet already with several years experience. Her first sail on a waʻa kaulua was from Nuʻu Bay on Maui’s southeast side to her hometown Lahaina when she was 14 years old. She holds a deep love and respect for Hōkūleʻa, saying our mama canoe represents “the importance of why we voyage.”

Kayla hopes to one day see voyaging in the educational systems, for all youth. And she looks forward to being a part of the Moananuiākea Voyage even as she attends college, saying “I want to be a part of this voyage to continue the legacies of our ancestors, to make that pilina stronger.”

While sailing, Kayla misses one of her land-based passions, hunting. But when sheʻs on land, she misses it all - being on the canoe out on the ocean.