Molokai on Voyage to Panama

Molokai’s Lohiao Paoa is among the crew members aboard Hokule`a as the sailing canoe arrived in Panama last week. After 13 days traveling between Key West, Florida, and Colon, Panama, the crew prepared for a historic crossing of the 48-mile isthmus of Panama through the Panama Canal. The waterway ends in Balboa, and there the Hokule`a will arrive in the Pacific Ocean for the first time in almost two years in its historic Worldwide Voyage.

Paoa and fellow crew members spent New Year’s aboard Hokule`a. As one crew member wrote, they enjoyed a package of New Year’s goodies like 2017 sunglasses, blow horns and treats like sparkling cider.

“At midnight, as determined by the position of the stars, pu were sounded and a short celebration ensued,” Dr. Colleen Finnegan wrote in the crew blog.

The Hokule`a is nearing the completion of its epic four-year journey that will have covered 60,000 nautical miles, 125 ports, and 27 nations. With a planned homecoming to Hawaii this June, Hokule`a will make stops in the Galapagos Islands, Rapa Nui and French Polynesia before concluding the Worldwide Voyage.