William K. "Uncle Bill" Wallace III, director of the Hawaiian Studies program and captain in training of BYU-Hawaii's 57-foot traditional double-hulled voyaging canoe, says the Iosepa will tentatively undertake its maiden voyage about May 19 or 20, pending favorable weather and winds.
Wallace said, if the weather cooperates, the canoe will sail from Hukilau Beach to Kawaihae, west Hawaii, where the late Clay Bertlemann and Chadd Paishon of the Hawaiian voyaging canoe, Makalii, have been helping train the Iosepa crew and leaders.
Paishon, a veteran of previous Hokulea and Makalii open-ocean voyages, will act as captain on the Iosepa's maiden voyage, continuing to help train crewmembers and Uncle Bill. The Iosepa crew will consist of Hawaiian Studies faculty and students, university alumni and members of the community, who helped create the canoe in 2001.
The Iosepa had originally been scheduled to sail about May 12, but Wallace, in consultation with Captain Paishon, decided to delay the departure because of uncertain weather conditions. "Like the Hokulea, we're just trying to figure out the weather," he said.
Wallace also said the Iosepa will remain at Kawaihae until the end of spring term, at which time another crew will conduct practice runs off the lee side of the Big Island and then sail back to Oahu on June 23. During that voyage, Wallace said the Iosepa may stop off at Hana, Maui, and Kalaupapa or other valleys on Moloka'i, where he was raised, before the final downwind leg to Laie.
"The Iosepa is an integral part of our Hawaiian Studies program, and is truly a teaching canoe," Wallace continued. "Student members of the crew must maintain a 2.0 grade point average and have completed or be currently enrolled in Malama 'Aina and Malama Kai [preserve the land and sea] courses." He added they must also pass a rigorous swimming test and be thoroughly trained in crew responsibilities.
Kawika Eskaran, a member of the Hawaiian Studies faculty and one of the Iosepa watch captains, explained crewmembers are limited to one 48-quart cooler that must contain changes of clothing and foul weather gear, toiletries, an emergency flashlight, a knife and marline spike to unravel knots, other personal belongings, a journal and a blanket or sheet. "The crew takes turns sleeping in watch shifts in the limited number of cots that are contained in the twin hulls," he said.
"They also have to be thoroughly familiar with all emergency procedures," Eskaran added. For example, during a recent Saturday morning training session he made sure crewmembers knew how to secure their personal flotation devices and safety harnesses.
"Everybody is going to wear a safety harness while on board, make sure it's nice and snug, and when you go outside [the canoe]," he said, referring to bathroom breaks, "wrap a rope around a pole and keep one hand on the canoe. There are no exceptions. Even if it's calm, you still put the harness on. That's going to be your lifeline."
Hawaiian Studies professor Kamoa'e Walk, who as quartermaster for Iosepa's maiden voyage is responsible for assigning space usage and stowing away all containers, reviewed knot tying: "There are a couple of miles of rope on the canoe, so the crew must have a thorough familiarity with the eight basic knots we use. If you tie a knot and others come along, they know what it is and can quickly untie it."
"If you stay on the canoe long enough, there will be a pressure situation where you need to tie those knots quickly," Walk said, pointing out they include the square knot, sheet bend, double half-hitch, clove hitch, figure eight, bowline on a bite and bowline. "There are lots of other knots, but these can basically come undone easily, if needed."
He added that many of these knots might be familiar to Scouts, "but try tying them with a one-inch line, or you're standing on the canoe and trying to do it with one hand."
The Hawaiian Studies program at BYU-Hawaii created the Iosepa under a grant from the W.K. Kellogg Foundation. Master carvers Kawika Eskaran, a member of the Hawaiian Studies staff, and Tuione Pulotu, a former labor missionary and long-time resident of Läie who is originally from Tonga, carved the canoe from tropical wood imported from Fiji. A large number of community volunteers as well as BYU-Hawaii students participated in the process.