One of the most daring feats of the early Polynesians was their ability to traverse the vast Pacific Ocean using only ancient wayfinding techniques. Centuries have passed since our ancestors sailed these waters, and now, a new generation of voyagers, comprising BYU–Hawaii students, alumni, community members, and faculty, took up the mantle to carry on that timeless tradition aboard the Iosepa.
A Canoe with Purpose and Legacy
The Iosepa, a double-hulled voyaging canoe, was crafted from hardwood imported from Fiji and meticulously carved by expert artisans Sione Tuione Pulotu and Kawika Eskaran. Built as an educational vessel, the canoe teaches students traditional Polynesian shipbuilding and navigation, as well as the discipline and stewardship required to care for both the vessel and each other.
Through a collaboration between BYU–Hawaii and the Polynesian Cultural Center (PCC), the Iosepa underwent months of repairs following its 2024 voyage to be seaworthy for this May’s launch. The voyage circumnavigated Oʻahu and continued to neighboring islands. Mark Ellis, captain of the Iosepa and director of voyaging at the PCC, shared, “This voyage is for the people. Each port we visit reminds us of our responsibility to connect, to remember, and to uplift one another—as Hawaiians and as stewards of this place.”
Enduring the Elements, Embracing the Spirit
The journey’s first stop was Molokaʻi, a place deeply symbolic due to its connection with Bill Wallace, who was born and raised there. Wallace was the founder of the Hawaiian Studies program at BYU–Hawaii and the original project director of the Iosepa. He helped build and name the canoe. Returning to Molokaʻi was a full-circle moment reaffirming its cultural roots and reminding the crew of their broader Pacific family. “It was significant for the Iosepa to return to Moloka’i, it was family, it was home,” shared Iliana Lopez, a junior from California majoring in elementary Education.
From Molokaʻi to Lahaina, the crew carried and shared light in both physical and spiritual ways. They faced 20-knot winds and eight-foot swells, but through prayer, teamwork, and seamanship, they made it safely. “It’s experiences like these that bring us closer together,” said Kahiamaikalani Walker, an Applied Mathematics major and senior from Hawaiʻi. “We find strength in knowing we have each other to rely on.” Walker also serves as Watch Captain, a lead role on the Iosepa that oversees a specific watch, or period of duty onboard the Iosepa.
During a devotional in June 2025, Captain Ellis recalled, “When the seas got rough, the crew worked as one until we reached calm waters. I told them, ‘If you get scared, look to the most senior crew members, which was me—If he starts freaking out, then you can freak out.’ He laughed. “I had to stay calm. It was a test of all our faiths—especially mine.”
Each leg of the journey ended with a debrief where each crew member offered one word to summarize their experience. When the Iosepa pulled into Molokai, the captain’s word was “ancestral”—a fitting tribute to the divine guidance felt along the way.
An Unexpected Stop: Lahaina’s Healing Harbor
Days before leaving Molokaʻi, the Hui o Wa ‘a Kaulua, Maui’s voyaging society, invited the Iosepa to stop in Lahaina—an unexpected yet meaningful detour. Lahaina, still recovering from the aftereffects of the devastating 2023 wildfires, became the second harbor to welcome a voyaging canoe since the tragedy.
“Going to Lahaina wasn’t planned,” Walker said. “Even two years after the fires, they still needed beacons of hope. It meant a lot to us that they asked.”
The Iosepa’s arrival was met with quiet gratitude and heartfelt emotion. Lahaina’s landscape bore the scars of loss, but the community’s embrace of the crew brought both tears and healing. One crew member’s mother, who has run a food distribution center since the fires, greeted them with open arms. “She was so grateful that the crew were able to give her a helping hand,” recalled Lopez when they docked at Lahaina.
The crew helped restock the food distribution center and handed out supplies to those in need. They also supported Hui o Wa'a Kaulua’s kids summer program, an initiative that teaches young children about traditional navigation and sailing while creating a deeper understanding of culture and tradition.
Through these humble acts of service, the voyage underscored a deeper truth: travel is not just physical; it is spiritual. The Iosepa, named after the settlement in Utah, where Pacific islanders, through faith, followed the prophet’s guidance to move closer to the temple, gathered. Hence the slogan of the Iosepa, "Voyagers of Faith”- the Iosepa is more than a canoe. It has become a vessel of faith, cultural renewal, and unity.
“Unless we’re trying to connect with a place and its people, we’re not really traveling,” said Walker. “That’s the magic of voyaging—it connects us with people, with ancestors, and with God.”
A Journey of Faith, Discovery, and Unity
Another spiritual highlight was visiting Pulehu Chapel on Maui, one of the earliest chapels of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in Hawaiʻi. It’s where Jonathan Napela and George Q. Cannon translated the Book of Mormon into Hawaiian. “The spirit was strong as we stood on sacred ground,” Walker recalled.
On the Iosepa, backgrounds faded away. “Samoan, Hawaiian, Tahitian, Filipino—it doesn’t matter,” said Walker. “On the canoe, we are family.” That spirit of collaboration and trust wasn’t just for the crew—it radiated to every community they met.
Looking back, the crew agrees: the voyage was far more than island-hopping. It was a spiritual odyssey of remembrance, discovery, and purpose. As Walker simply put it, “As voyagers of faith, the Iosepa crew experiences the tender mercies of the Lord in powerful ways.”