Stories of the Moananuiākea Voyage
Nā Moʻolelo Moananuiākea shares stories, connections, culture, and voices of the communities Hōkūleʻa and Hikianalia visit during their 47 month, 43,000 nautical mile Moananuiākea Voyage. Each episode highlights a place, its moʻolelo (stories), the people who call it home, and the deep connection to the ocean. It also shares experiences of crew members celebrating the rich traditions and knowledge of the Pacific.
Kealaikahiki
“When we sail to Tahiti, we know that we’re on that path. We travel that road, we travel that path that hundreds of canoes over a thousand plus years have traveled.”
Navigator Bruce Blankenfeld reflects on Kealaikahiki – its history, cultural significance, and the responsibility to protect this ancestral road. Hōkūleʻa, Hikianalia, and crews recently retraced this path during the relaunch of the Moananuiākea Voyage in June 2025—nearly 50 years after Hōkūleʻa’s maiden voyage to Tahiti.
Doldrums
“Doldrums is a state of mind”
– Pwo Navigator Bruce Blankenfeld
Pwo Navigator Bruce Blankenfeld reflects on the infamous Doldrums known also known as the Intertropical Convergence Zone. Known for light and variable winds punctuated by powerful squalls, and often thick cloud cover, the area often presents a navigational and endurance challenge for voyagers. Having been on multiple voyages through the Doldrums, Bruce has state that “it is always so different.”
Avana
Avana, Rarotonga, Cook Islands
Avana is Hōkūleʻaʻs and Hikianaliaʻs safe harbor in Rarotonga, Cook Islands, where its voyaging tradition dates back centuries. Crew members visited a monument of stones, the first of which was brought from Hawaiʻi on Hōkūleʻaʻs maiden voyage to the Cook Islands in 1985. By 1992, more voyaging canoes were built in Polynesia and each brought a stone from their home.
“If you take a stone from your land and you put it down on another land, youʻre connecting not only yourself, youʻre connecting your ʻāina to the ʻāina that you reach.” – Tua Pittman, Pwo Navigator, Cook Islands
Pwo Navigator Bruce Blankenfeld talks of arriving in the Cook Islands in 1985. He tells the story of the monument of 7 stones placed there 6 centuries ago, one for each voyaging canoe that departed for Aotearoa.
“Just learning about that, seeing those stones and understanding that, it made voyaging a lot more tangible, a lot more real. For me it took it out of the realm of just a story and somewhat connection to our past and culture, to a direct connection.” – Bruce Blankenfeld, Pwo Navigator, Hawaiʻi