Worldwide Voyage 2012-2017
Posted on March 4, 2012

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The WWV Sail Plan as of May, 2013. (Click on the Map to Enlarge It.)

wwv_map_2013_05_12

Mission

The mission of Hōkūle‘a’s Worldwide Voyage is to navigate toward a healthy and sustainable future for ourselves, our home – the Hawaiian Islands – and our Island Earth through voyaging and new ways of learning. Our core message is to mālama (care for) Island Earth – our natural environment, children and all humankind.

Purpose

Many have asked WHY a worldwide voyage, considering the sail will have significant risks and will necessitate an extended absence from the islands for Hōkūle‘a – a tremendously valuable symbol of cultural pride. The simple answer – the worldwide voyage is a journey that charts a new course toward sustainability that Hawai‘i and the world urgently need.

Sighting Rapa Nui, 1999 © Sam Low

Currently, our compass – and indeed the world’s – points toward an unsustainable future. However, as on a canoe, our ability to survive is directly dependent on our ability to help each other. By bringing together and working with scientists, educators, policy makers, business leaders and concerned citizens, we believe Hawai‘i can one day become a model of social and environmental responsibility to the world.

Steering for Home from Rapa Nui. 2000

If we view our Earth as an island, our only voyaging canoe in the sea of space, it becomes apparent that we must change course to ensure a healthy, sustainable world.

For this voyage, specific and measurable goals and objectives will be refined through a collaborative process with some of the best thinkers – youth to adults – who love Hawai‘i and care for its future well-being. Hawai‘i is blessed with a host of incredible organizations and individuals, each with distinct skills focused on particular aspects of sustainability. In assisting community members and groups to work together, we will create a “Hawai‘i Challenge” – inspired by challenges issued in Fiji, Micronesia and the Caribbean – that stimulates leadership, fosters a stronger sense of stewardship, increases resources, and shares skills, knowledge, and technologies to catalyze concrete action.

Hawai’i

Dedication

To Myron Bennett “Pinky” Thompson (1924-2001), who provided visionary leadership as president of the Polynesian Voyaging Society from 1979-2001 and who, along with NASA Astronaut Charles Lacy Veach (1944-1995), planted the seed that blossomed into a vison for Hōkūle‘a’s Worldwide Voyage.

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