The Cook Islands traditional vaka departed Avarua,Rarotonga, on Friday, May 10, for the 13 th Festival of Pacific Arts andCulture held in Honolulu last month. After 22 days, the Vaka arrived at Sand Island on June 1 st welcomedby PVS (Polynesian Voyaging Society) 'Ohana, and the Cook Islands community. The voyage was part of an ongoing effort to revive andpreserve the traditional voyaging practices, which had declined in recentdecades.
Steering the crew on both legs of theRarotonga-Hawai’i-Rarotonga voyage was Captain Peia Patai, an experienced CookIslands master navigator of Vaka. Patai has crossed the equator an impressive nine timeson previous voyages across the Pacific. However, it was only during the recent ocean journey inMay from Rarotonga to Honolulu that Patai caught his first glimpse of theelusive north star from the Intertropical Convergence Zone (ITCZ) or the “doldrums”area.
As the Vaka sailed through the doldrums just north ofthe equator, Patai finally laid eyes on the iconic celestial marker that hasguided seafarers for centuries. Despite his decades of expertise in wayfinding, Patai disclosedthat this was a profoundly moving experience as the appearance of the North Starsignified the vaka transition into the northern hemisphere. On their way up to Hawai’i, he said the weather was“solid (strong)” entering the doldrums.
“It’s a solid area that we train hard ourselves todeal with it. That’s where you’re tested as a crew – your discipline has .