Okeanos Waa'Qab Voyaging canoe UPDATE
Okeanos Waa'Qab Voyaging canoe is now expected to arrive middle of, or the end of next week.
The winds have dropped dramatically, and being a traditional sailing canoe, it is very much wind dependent, and steered by a massive sized "foe". It means their expected arrival this weekend has now been rescheduled to next week.
The voyaging canoe is under the guidance of Okeanos Captain Jerry Joseph, with a crew of seven.
"Capt. Jerry grew up on the island of Satawal, Micronesia, learning traditional navigation from his grandfather, renowned grand master navigator Mau Piailug.", according to a post on the Cook Island Te Puna Marama Voyaging Society Facebook page.
Capt. Jerry 's grandfather, Pius Piailug, who later became known as Mau by the Hawai’ians, was from Satawal.
"Papa Mau", as he became known in voyaging community, was the grand master of traditional voyaging navigation, who taught the mainly Hawai'ian crew of voyaging canoe Hokule'a to sail from Hawaii to Tahiti by traditional navigation in May 1976.
The Okeanos Waa'Qab, the double hulled voyaging canoe, left Yap, Federated State of Micronesia on 1st September. The 15m x 6.2m canoe made a brief stop in Pohnpei, before it departed Pohnpei on this leg on September 10th.
The mixed national crew of seven, including Micronesians, Cook Islanders, a Maori Aotearoa voyagers are in high spirits, and taking guesses at their anticipated arrival date in Apia, Samoa.
Aiga Folau extends a Fa'afetai tele to Transam Samoa for taking care of the arrival formalities for the Okeanos Waa'Qab. "Likewise, we thank Samoa Ports Authority, STA, our Government Ministries, as Customs and Immigration for their prompt professional service to our enquiries.", says Memea Lyvia Black, President of Aiga Folau, Samoa Voyaging Society.
Aiga Folau, or Samoa Voyaging Society encourages our people, especially youth groups to become involved and learn our ancestral traditional voyaging navigation. It is a character building skill, that teaches us sustainable lifestyles.
"O se tomai fa'a'auro lenei a o tatou Tua'ā o aso anamua, aua ne’i tatou fa'atamala ma manatu mama iai.
"O folauga, sa "tagata " ai Samoa. O tagata Samoa, o tagata folau o le Pasefika. O se tasi lenei o measina a Samoa. Aua ne’i tatou faagaloina"…………………………………………………………………………………………………….