Morning Light 'blown away' in a different way
HONOLULU---Never mind that the familiar trade winds failed to show
for the Morning Light team's weekend adventure in Hawaii. In the
words of sailing manager Robbie Haines, the young sailors were
"blown away" by their two days on a Polynesian canoe with nature's
navigator, Nainoa Thompson.
Roy Disney, whose documentary film production will climax when the
15 men and women sail the Transpacific Yacht Race from Los
Angeles to Honolulu next July, said, "It came out by far the best it
could have, especially because there wasn't much wind the whole
weekend. The kids just ate it up. In just two days they figured out how
to sail that thing pretty well."
Graham Brant-Zawadzki, 21, of Newport Beach, Calif., said they not
only learned about navigating without instruments but the native
culture behind the concept.
"We all care about the ocean, but it's really cool to see the whole
perspective of how they approach sailing," Brant-Zawadzki said.
"When they come together they're not a crew, they're a family, and
the boat is their home, not just a vehicle to take them somewhere."
Thompson, president of the Polynesian Voyaging Society, unraveled
the mysteries of how to find the way with only the sun, the wind, the
stars, the sea and the birds as guides.
"The navigation system they use has been passed down orally for
thousands of years," Brant-Zawadzki said. "But when you think about
it, there's a lot of scientific background behind their methods, and it's
very sensible how they figure it out from observations."
The team, hosted by the Marine Education and Training Center and
Waikiki Yacht Club, sailed the 62-foot double-hulled canoe offshore
from Sand Island near the international airport. The initial plan to sail
from the island of Maui to Oahu via Molokai was abandoned about a
week earlier---a sound decision. The only double-digit breeze they saw
was on the second day Saturday when the canoe hit 6 knots past
Koko Head along the southeast shore of Oahu.
On Friday they stayed out past dark so Thompson could demonstrate
celestial navigation. On Saturday they went out to a shallow offshore
area where most of the team went swimming.
Only one of the 15 team members, Chris Clark, was unable to
participate because of studies at Univ. of Mary Washington in
Fredericksburg, Va., but he'll hear all about it when they reassemble
in Honolulu in January to start training for next summer's race on their
Transpac 52.
Perhaps Kate Theisen, 19, of Socorro, N.M, could relate best to
Thompson's explanations of natural navigation. She's studying
planetary science.
"Nainoa would ask questions to make sure the kids understood what
he was telling them," Haines said. "Kate got all the answers right."
Theisen said, "It was really neat because I do all the mathematical
calculations and understand the principles behind all of it. He would
apply it in a completely new way that they don't teach me at school,
so it was remarkable to make the connections."
If there wasn't much wind, no problem. "When you're racing it's all
about, 'Oh, I wish we had better wind,' " Theisen said, "but this was
learning about the navigation."
The activities and the sailors' impressions were well-reported by local
media. Genny Tulloch, 21, of Houston told KHNL Channel 8, "We've
gained more of an understanding about using nature . . . to know
where you're going. Those are things that racers don't use. We usually
use [instrument] numbers."
Jesse Fielding, 19, of North Kingstown, R.I., told the Honolulu Star-
Bulletin that the double-hulled canoe "has a totally different purpose"
than the high- tech racing boats that sail much faster. "This boat was
designed to explore and voyage," Fielding said.
But Thompson told the sailors, according to the Honolulu Advertiser,
"They're more similar than you think. We come from very different
cultures, but there's a shared love of the sea, a passion for sailing and
a desire to pass that knowledge on to the next generation."
The sailors and Thompson are destined to meet again. The former will
be back in Hawaii early in January to train for the Transpac and said
they plan to be on hand to wave Thompson bon voyage when Hokule'a
departs on a 7,000- mile cruise to Micronesia. Later, Thompson said,
he hopes to sail the canoe out to Diamond Head to greet Morning
Light when it finishes the Transpac in July.
Thompson, asked at a press conference what he hoped the kids
would get from the weekend, said, "I hope we teach them about the
culture and the history and respect for Hawaii and the oceans, and in
July, when they sail their boat from California to Hawaii, when they get
here I hope they'll feel just a little bit like they’re coming home.' "
Digital stills and digital video clips of their Thanksgiving experience are
available for download at www.papahui.com
More information:
www.pacifichighproductions.com/
Polynesian Voyaging Society:
pvs.kcc.hawaii.edu/
MEDIA CONTACT
Rich Roberts
(310) 835-2526
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Hokule'a
off Diamond Head
Phil
Uhl
Enlarged
photo at bottom
Roy
Disney and Nainoa Thompson
Honolulu
Advertise
ML crew members (l-r)
Piet van Os, Charlie
Enright, Kate Theisen and Genny Tulloch
Honolulu Star-Bulletin
Leslie DeMeuse
Leslie DeMeuse
The Morning Light team
Chris Branning, 21, Sarasota, Fla., junior,
U.S. Merchant Marine Academy.
Graham Brant-Zawadzki, 21, Newport
Beach, Calif., senior, Stanford Univ.
Chris Clark, 20, Old Greenwich, Conn.,
sailmaker.
Charlie Enright, 22, Providence, R.I., racing
coach, senior Brown Univ.
Jesse Fielding, 20, North Kingstown, R.I.,
boat worker, sailing teacher, student Univ.
of Rhode Island.
Robbie Kane, 21, Fairfield, Conn., racing
sailboat captain.
Steve Manson, 22, Baltimore, Md., sailing
instructor.
Chris Schubert, 21, Rye, N.Y., Midshipman
First Class, U.S. Naval Academy.
Kate Theisen, 20, Socorro, N.M., planetary
scientist student, New Mexico Tech.
Mark Towill, 18,
Kaneohe, Hawaii, senior,
Punahou High School.
Genny Tulloch, 22, Houston, Texas, sailor.
Piet van Os, 22, La Jolla,
Calif., senior,
California Maritime Academy.
Chris Welch, 19, Grosse Pointe Park, Mich.,
boat prep and deliveries, soph., Michigan
State Univ.
Kit Will, 22, Milton, Mass., senior,
Connecticut College.
Jeremy Wilmot, 21, Sydney,
Australia,
sophomore, St. Mary's College of Maryland.
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TRANSPAC RACE STATUS
