Hokulea

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Hōkūle'a is a full-scale replica of a wooden sailing vessel used in ancient Hawai'i. Its name means "star of gladness" in Hawaiian, and the name refers to the star Arcturus, a guiding zenith star for Hawaiian navigators, which falls directly overhead at Hawai'i's latitude.

It was built in 1975 by the Polynesian Voyaging Society, and is best known for its 1976 voyage from Hawaii to Tahiti, performed without modern navigational instruments. Since then Hōkūle'a has completed seven voyages to various destinations in Polynesia and the United States, all using ancient wayfinding techniques of celestial navigation.

When it is not on a voyage, Hōkūle'a is moored at the Hawaii Maritime Center in Honolulu Harbor.

[edit] List of voyages

1976: Hōkūle'a, led by Satawalese navigator Mau Piailug, traveled from Hawaiʻi to Tahiti and back.
1978: A second attempted voyage to Tahiti was aborted when the canoe swamped south of the island of Moloka'i. Eddie Aikau is lost at sea on this voyage.
1980: Native Hawaiian Navigator Nainoa Thompson recreated the 1976 voyage, becoming the first Native Hawaiian in modern times to guide a canoe without instruments.
1985: Known as the Voyage of Rediscovery, Hōkūle'a traveled a total distance of 16,000 miles to various destinations in Polynesia.
1992: Hōkūle'a sailed to Rarotonga and back via Tahiti. The voyage included an educational component where Hawaii students could track the progress of the canoe through daily radio reports.
1995 spring: Hōkūle'a, along with sister ships Hawai'iloa and Makali'i, sailed from Hawaii to the Marquesas Islands and back via Tahiti.
1995 summer: Hōkūle'a and Hawai'iloa sailed the West Coast of the United States from Seattle to San Diego.
1999: Hōkūle'a sailed from Hawaii to Rapa Nui and back.
2004: Hōkūle'a's most recent voyage took place in June 2004, when navigator Thompson led a training voyage through the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands.