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The Vaka Taumako Project of
the Pacific Traditions Society

NEWSLETTER: SEPTEMBER 2001  Volume 4 Issue 2
		Inside this issue: More Solomon Island News Start of Journey of    Taumakoans to Kauai Correspondence Riding the South Pacific High Anouncements

 

Halevaka Completed!   By M. GEORGE During May through June, over half of the Taumako community (of approximately 500) completed cutting the structural timbers and flooring for the 20 meter by 12 meter halevaka (canoe house). In July and August the sego leaves were sewn onto batons and layered onto the building for the roof and walling. The entire structure was lashed together with bark rope. The halevaka was completed on 1 Sept, 2001. Gardens are being planted and pigs fattened for a grand opening celebration, which may be scheduled to coincide with the arrival of the tepuke Vaka Taumako back in Taumako. Sometimes good west winds such as would be suitable for that voyage occur as early as late October. Sewing Sego leaves onto wood strips to use on roofing and walling on the island of Taumako Vaka Taumako Receives New Ama For Return Voyage Paramount Chief Kaveia, Earnest Alai and Edward Taukalo are now at Nifiloli replacing the ama (outrigger float), the hakatu (about 15, thin, upright posts which connect the ama to the crossbeams), and all the lashings involved, on the tepuke called Vaka Taumako. These have rotted for lack of a proper halevaka to keep the rain off the canoe during its prolonged stay at Nifiloli. The Vaka Taumako is still in Nifiloli because of the complete and, according to some, unprecedented lack of suitable west winds for sailing back to Taumako during the last two (summer) seasons. P.C. Kaveia and his crew, which might include some of the Vaeakau people (of the Outer Reef Islands, including Nifiloli) will stand by for the first good wind to sail the Vaka Taumako back to Taumako. P.C. Kaveia expects fair winds to occur once work on the new ama is complete. Usually such winds blow sometime between late October and late December, and Kaveia thinks good winds will come back again this year. The reasons for his expectations are not known to us now, but should become clear later this year. So stay tuned … Lata Navigation School Nearing Midterm Since June forty five students have been meeting twice per week to learn and practice canoe building skills. These building skills are the subject of half the classes in the curriculum of the school. The students have been adzing, carving, weaving, planting, gathering, and generally learning how to make several of the parts needed for the two canoes that are going to be built starting in September. The building of these canoes will be the practicum for those students. The second half of the Lata School curriculum includes classes in sailing, seafaring, and navigation skills. These classes will commence upon return of the Vaka Taumako to Taumako from Nifiloli. The Story of Lata to be Filmed When Two Tealolili Are Built! During September, 2001, Tamanu (Kamani) and other tropical hardwood trees will be felled for the main parts of two tealolili voyaging canoes to be built at Taumako during the next several months. Major expenses for these two canoes are funded by contributions to the Vaka Taumako Project from a German educational TV production company. A film crew led by the VTP's chosen producer Lorenz Knauer will go to Taumako in March, 2002 to work with us in filming the completion of various phases of the canoe construction. The purpose of the filming is to document the steps in the Story of Lata as they are enacted by the Taumakoans. Taumakoans consider themselves to be the true "heirs of Lata" in that they are still building these voyaging canoes using the same methods that Lata did when he made the first voyaging canoe some thousands of years ago. The film will eventually air on German TV and an english language version will be marketed internationally. Vaka Taumako Project video students will assist the film crew and receive training in use of the sophisticated equipment they will bring, and do filming to meet our own archival and production needs. The outrigger parts from one of the canoes will be shipped to Kaua'i to complete the tealolili that was started there in 1999. If funds are raised in time, a crew of at least four Taumakoans will come to Kaua'i in April, 2002 to lash the tealolili and trial sail it. This Taumakoan group will probably include at least one video student and one leading canoe builder, as well as P.C. Kaveia and a sail weaver. Tealolili Kaua'i Needs Funds for Completion The hull of the 28 foot long Tealolili Kaua'i canoe has dried beautifully and is waiting for its outrigger. The albizia tree used for the vaka (hull) dried very light, so the canoe should be very fast and appears to be very sound. The wood has also dried soft enough that when the Taumakoans saw it in December, 2001, they thought better of using the huge koa slabs graciously donated by the Park Service on Kaua'i for use in building the main platform. P.C. Kaveia believes the koa will eat away at the hull and the crossbeams, and it would be best to use a softer, stringier and lighter woods for the platform, as well as for the crossbeams. All the outrigger parts needed to complete the Tealolili Kaua'i are going to be made on Taumako and will be in Honiara ready to ship to Kaua'i by February, 2002 We are now fundraising to bring four Taumakoans to Kaua'i in April, 2002 with the group returning from the filming session.. These Taumakoans will thin the bottom of the hull, lash the canoe parts together with sennit cordage they already made, and demonstrate how to use the canoe during trial sailing around Kaua'i and inter-island, weather permitting. The video student will edit tape they will shoot during March toward creation of archival and full length documentary production. The full transport, food and accommodation costs for each person to come from remote Taumako to Kaua'i are enormous – about $7,000.US per person. Each time they come and go it takes months for them to reach their destinations. Each time they require papers, clothes, medical attention, etc., and someone from Kaua'i must go to escort them each way. Even with most of their costs in Kaua'i donated, it still costs about $7,000 per person…which is $28,000 US total. This does not include the costs of the two roundtrips by Hawaiian escorts. When the tealolili Kaua'i is completed it will be actively used in educational and research programs based on Kaua'i. P.C. Kaveia is looking forward to completing this tealolili as a gift to the people of this island, whom he now knows speak in a language he understands, treat him as family and who even gave him back his sight so that he can better teach young people how to voyage as the Polynesians did when they first came to Hawai'i. Please help us make this program possible. Donations are tax deductible according to US law. Administrative Funds Required The Vaka Taumako Project requires $25,000 US to pay administrative costs for the next six months. Another $16,000. will be needed for us to continue at the same rate through the end of April, 2002. These costs include $1400 per month for office, archive/video studio and storage rentals, $350 per month average for telephone, fax, internet, post and other communications, $1500 per month for contract services of program director, bookkeeper/CPA, computer technician, webmaster (all at 2/3 to 3/4 donated rates), $400 per month for office supplies, copies, photos, transport by car and inter-island, and $4,000 for video deck, connectors, and overdue maintenance of studio and recording equipment. Our applications to Hawai'i Community Foundation and other private, federal, and state grant agencies have been turned down again. It seems that we are the only canoe or voyaging organization dedicated to supporting the revival and documentation of authentic traditional Polynesian craft and navigation, and we are seen as being too small budgeted to be as credible as bigger budget organizations. On the other hand, we have had to turn down offers of funding and publicity from numerous media and business organizations because they wanted to take cheap advantage of the voyaging imagery while repeating the same misrepresentations of voyaging people and their knowledge, and/or required control of copyright or other intellectual property rights of Taumakoans and Polynesians that we have no right nor desire 'give away.' From 1996 to the present we have been blessed by private donations which have allowed us to achieve many of our goals so far. We are deeply grateful for the generosity of those donors. However, at this time we need more administrative funds or we will have to stop within a few months. Unfortunately, the way our economy and tax system is set up, just soliciting and reporting donations requires considerable paperwork, labor and expense. Also, the transportation, communication, and video costs in a remotely based project like this are enormous. If we can continue until 2005, we believe we could reach all our main goals, including education of a new generation among Taumakoans and other peoples of modern Polynesia, including production of books and videos documenting how to build and navigate traditional Polynesian craft, and renewal of a viable voyaging based economy among Taumakoans.

Start of journey of Taumakoans to Kaua'i    (Completion of account from last newsletter) Mimi escorted the Taumako delegation from Taumako to Kaua'i in November 2000 and Meph escorted them back in January 2001 as far as Lata. Mimi flew to Honiara 2 Nov. on the first flight since the four months break in service to Solomons. Towns people were very nervous, though all do believe that the peace will last. In Temotu Province there was the usual lack of transport for Kaveia, his daughter, and his aide Mostyn, to get from Taumako to Lata, Santa Cruz. So Mimi enlisted the aide of stalwart Ross Hepworth to go to Taumako and pick them up with his fiberglass canoe and two 25 hp OBMs. Ross, however, was threatened with death and destruction of his canoe by a disgruntled Provincial politician in Taumako, so he waited for Mimi to arrive. When she finally did, she was enthusiastically welcomed by all and the way was clear to go to Taumako, but by then the weather had turned bad. Ross Hepworth and his nephews departing Pigon Island in the lee of Reef Islands on first attempt to reach Taumako Their first two attempts to dash the 85 n. miles from eastern Reefs to Taumako were sobering exercises in trying to find a way despite rough seas, failing engines, and splits in the stern of the canoe! Then there came a relayed radio message from Taumako saying that Cecilia had "fixed" the weather for the next day. So they loaded up at 5 a.m., despite crashing swells, high winds, black scudding lines of clouds, and driving rain. "Looks bloody impossible," Ross and Mimi agreed. When they reached the end of the lee of Reef Islands, they saw what looked like a lane about 50 meters wide of relatively calm seas and sky that seemed to lead directly to Taumako. It was hellish to the south and ugly to the north, but they cautiously proceeded. The third member of the crew, Ross' strong young nephew from Nandeli village, was soon forced to bail double-time as the patch came off the split in the canoe stern only a half-hour out from Reefs. Seven hours later they came ashore at Tahua, and Cecilia draped her arms over Mimi’s shoulder and they wailed in traditional greeting for loved ones reunited. There were meetings night and day with community members regarding the state of the Vaka Taumako Project, and a new patch was put on the canoe. This time it was made of white styrofoam melted on by gasoline and strengthened by shreds of a sticky bark. Seven people departed in the canoe in similarly unlikely looking weather. But, once again, the bad seas and weather literally parted before them, aided by Kaveia actively pushing storm clouds away from our path by pointing at them with his limed weather stick and using ancient spells. A series of similarly unlikely events got them through "impossible" situations, including cancelled flights, unavailable tickets, unprocessable passports and visas, etc. They traveled from Lata to Honiara, Brisbane, Sydney, Honolulu and Kaua'i within only 10 days of departing Taumako. This in itself could be called a minor miracle compared with the 1-4 month waits experienced by groups of Taumakoans going to or from Kaua’i. Thank you, Ross, and your whole family! Thank you, Cecilia Teikhala! And thank you to the many other people who helped us in Duff and Reef Islands and in Lata and Honiara! OLI ATU! Paramount Chief Kaveia at Anahola Canoe Association in December, 2000, explaining his work and plans for finishing the Tealolili canoe on Kaua'i. "Baby Lata" is one of P.C. Kaveia's great great grandchildren, pictured here with the chief and Mimi George. This baby boy is the son of Vehu, who is the next VTP video student on the list to come to Kaua'i for video production training.

CORRESPONDENCE   Dear Mimi, Mahalo plenty for the loan of the tapes. Your project is much clearer to me now. It was wonderful to see the building and launching and sailing, even if it were only short takes. The community spirit was obvious. Back when the Polynesian Voyaging Society was beating the drum for the trip to Easter Island "to close the triangle" as they put it, I registered strong objections. I pointed out that the "triangle" is not a Polynesian concept, and saw really no good reason for spending all that money to get to Easter (I call the island by the oldest name we have; "Rapa Nui" only dates back to around the 1860s and was invented by Tahitians working on sailing ships). I believed that islands within traditional sea roads of Polynesia should be visited first. PVS has not yet called at the Australs, Northern Cooks, Tokelau, Tuvalu. And I named the Western Outliers where canoe building and voyaging traditions are still alive (in no small part thanks to you) where it would be useful to visit, where we could be instructed. These should have taken precedent over the expensive ego trip to Easter… Aloha pumehana Herb Kane Editor – Herb Kane is a founder and director of the Polynesian Voyaging Society. The second part of this letter will eventually be available to read on the website www.vaka.org in the new section we intend to start for "Correspondence." Mimi checks the set of a single reef in the mainsail during the warmth of midday in moderate wind and sea while heading east along latitude 41 degrees south.

Riding the South Pacific High   By M. GEORGE Somehow I never imagined that we would face an El Nino. Back in 1995 when Meph and I sailed Gryphon from New Zealand to Rarotonga, en route to Hawaii, the route was almost direct (as the crow flies). This time was very different. In 1995 the winds were mostly from south of east. Though we were constantly close-hauled and it was not comfortable, it was efficient, there were no cyclones, and we were not exposed to southern ocean storms. This year we experience the peculiar situation that we were still close-hauled almost all the way to Tahiti, but we had to sail over a thousand miles longer, spend almost three weeks in the southern ocean, and come close to nasty cyclones both north and south of the equator. In April, 2001 Gryphon was ready for sea, and after two years in New Zealand she had to depart or pay import duty. In August, 1998 Gryphon was the platform for video recording of the first voyage of an authentic Polynesian voyaging canoe on a traditional route since about 1962. After that voyage I donated Gryphon to the Pacific Traditions Society, a 501c3 non-profit that supported that voyage and continues to give support to the Vaka Taumako Project (VTP), The VTP helps Taumakoans, a Polynesian people of the SE Solomon Islands, to renew building and navigation of Polynesian canoes using only their traditional materials and methods. The programs of the Vaka Taumako Project during 2001 are located in Taumako, and include building the canoe house (halevaka), two new canoes, and carrying out the first year of classes in the Lata (traditional) Navigation School. These programs do not need help from Gryphon … and since we are raising funds to bring a team of Taumakoans back to Hawaii to finish building the canoe that has been started there, it seemed obvious that Gryphon should come back to Hawai'i.

From Whangarei, N.Z. to Hawai'i via Tahiti is usually a less than 5,000 n.m. route. It is common wisdom that if one departs after the last cyclone sweeps down from Fiji and stay between 35 degrees South (the latitude of Whangarei) and 40 degrees South, then during the first half of the voyage one may often catch some westerly winds and not have to beat all the way to Tahiti. The risk of leaving too early is getting clobbered by tropical lows swooping from the north. The risk of being too far south is being caught by major cold front storms that roar up to the north from the southern ocean. A very experienced sailor and happy adventurer named John Wheeler and I departed Whangarei Heads on 20 April, and by the end of the day we faced strong and constant east winds. Gryphon’s forte is not going to weather, so at first we headed northeast... then we were forced to go NNE ..until we were well west of the southern Kermadecs. It was clear that if we kept going we would end up in the often windless zones amid Fijian or Tongan reefs, and be unlikely to reach Hawaii in 2001. So we turned SE, then we were forced to go SSE, until we were south of 40 degrees south, close to Chatham Islands, and the wind veered to northeasterly. At last we were going east. We were still hard on the wind, and the wind strength was mostly light and the sea choppy, so we could only roll and lurch along for the next few weeks gaining barely 40 n.m. of progress per day. We were all alone down there. And normally we would have been at risk. But as it was we heard radio reports by many vessels far north of us describing ghastly wind and sea conditions as fronts and gale force easterlies pounded them. So, it seemed that we were actually better off being so far south. This seemed a very peculiar state of affairs, but it could well be typical of the El Nino situation. On weatherfaxes I could see the whole southern Pacific. The highs developed and moved over Australia and also swept up from the southern ocean into the Tasman, as usual. But the highs were coming further north than usual, and linking up with each other to form a huge high system that was nearly stationary for weeks. The counterclockwise circulation of winds meant that the northernmost 'top' of the high produced strong east winds from about 40 degrees to about 20 degrees south latitude (over 1000 n.m.), and from New Zealand all the way to south of Tahiti (over 1000 n.m.). The high sat there and appeared to deflect low pressure areas as well as whip up winds surrounding the low pressure areas that developed all around it. The high was not only big. It had over 30 mb of pressure … and that meant lots of energy. That energy gave birth to frequent 50 knot fronts and steady easterly gale conditions across much of the Pacific during April and May (see May fax). May 10th Weather FAX The weatherfax projections (prognoses for the next 24 to 72 hours), were based on non-El Nino data bases, and so were laughably inaccurate. The operators of Russell Radio, who normally give quite reliable weather info. to hundreds of vessels at sea every day, declared themselves "stumped" by the "crazy weather." Also, there was talk ashore before we left Whangarei to the effect that this was a strong El Nino season in the South Pacific, and that meant it would be tough to go East.

Many captains of other boats, especially ones that depend on their sails rather than their engines, like Gryphon, had simply decided to go north or west, and wait for a normal or a La Nina year to sail east. But, like I said, Gryphon had to leave New Zealand and it made the most sense to return her to Hawaii. So I simply accepted that it was going to be a challenging and educational voyage, and if Gryphon could not make it all the way to Hawai’i, she would at least get out of New Zealand and maybe wind up in Fiji or Samoa as I feared we were going to during the 1995 voyage. Gryphons fitness for this journey, and our learning about what was going on throughout the Pacific was enabled by installations of a used radio and p.c.with weatherfax as well as a cockpit dodger (to deflect cold spray). The dodger proved almost essential because it kept John and I from getting completely soaked as well as cold while we were poking along below 40 degrees South for nearly three weeks. Another advantage of being on the edge, or at least not in the center, of the el nino high, was that there were lots of animals there with us! Great, sooty, and perhaps other types of albatross were our companions almost daily. There is nothing I can think of as mesmerizing as the flight of albatross along the valleys of waves just inches from the surface, occasionally carving a turn by dipping into the water with one wingtip. Various petrels, Cape pidgeons, and others were in abundance. And no wonder! John caught a fish nearly every time he threw the line in the water! We ate various types of tuna until we could eat no more. Even though John made efforts to catch only small fish, we could not eat or keep all of the fish that came to his hooks for lack of refrigeration. Also it was too rolly to either fish or cook much of the time. Though we only had one brief gale, the sea state was often choppy and that is anathema to Gryphon’s Colin Archer hull and gaff cutter rig if she must be close-hauled, as she was. When we reached 160 degrees west we became aware of a huge cyclone that was tracking SSE from just west of Tahiti. Russel Radio reported that it contained 70 knot winds and huge seas and we were prepared to turn around if it started to come our way. It did not. In this case too it seemed we were protected by our high. One big motorsailor traveling east from New Zealand to Tahiti that was handled by a professional delivery crew reported 40 to 60 knot fronts and gales punctuated by calms all the way across. Another one bound from N.Z. to San Diego (via Hawaii) followed our route south but was too far behind us to attach to the high as we did. They eventually overtook us, using their engine liberally. But in doing so they experienced many more strong fronts and winds than we did and eventually some hardware broke on their boom, necessitating an unscheduled stop in Tahiti. It seems that by putzing along below 40 degrees south we had found a satisfactory way to avoid storms and still sail (not motor) east during the El Nino phenomena in the southern Pacific! Actually, we had had no choice but to go south if we were to keep sailing at all, and then no choice but to keep on sailing east until the winds released us so that we could head back up north! When we had gained more than enough easting and were very anxious to be heading NNE toward Tahiti we were frustrated by northerly winds. On 18 May we suddenly had NW winds and were making good headway for a few days, until the wind returned to NNE and drove us back to the east and south for a few more days. Then the wind came out of the NE and, combined with a dirty sea, drove us, for the first time, to the west. After a couple days of going backwards followed by another couple of days going south of east I was very discouraged indeed. It was so cold and we were becoming so late! Now that we were going too far to the east we began to joke that we must look out for icebergs and we might have to sail all the way to South America in order to get into some winds that would let us head north.

That night, when I took my watch at 2 a.m. I was really in a dark mood. The sky and sea were also cloaked in impenetrable black. It was unusual in that we had enjoyed exceedingly clear skies almost all the time we were down around 40 degrees south. However there would be no amusement or learning that night from watching the stars and planets that were one of our most enjoyable occupations on night watch. I was wearing five layers of warm clothes and still shivering, and it was so rough that all I could do was clip myself into the cockpit and hold on trying to not get more bruises on the bruises. Suddenly I heard that distinctive compressed air sound of a whale breathing… but it sounded like it was right in my ear - loud like a jet plane! I jumped in surprise and turned to my left and suddenly my eyes were able to see into the dark quite clearly. A large whale’s head was slowly moving past me not 2 meters away, and its big eye, was looking directly at me. It was almost as long as Gryphon (10 meters on deck) and it seemed to move in slow motion as it arched it’s back and sank back down into the deep. "A big whale close!" I called to John, who was already untying his lee cloth and crawling out of his sleeping bag to stand by. The whale’s body must have come within inches of Gryphon’s hull, and it is sometimes a worry that a whale might misjudge and collide with one’s boat. But the whale had done what it wanted to and soon I was alone in the dark cockpit again. Then I felt warmed and cheered by the fact that I was far from alone. I felt joy at feeling myself to be part of the host of ocean creatures. One of our pilot whale escorts. After that NE, then ENE winds got us moving north to Tahiti. The Southern Cross was overhead all night, and every evening out of New Zealand we saw less and less of Orion behind and more and more of Scorpio ahead. Just after sunset Mars rose from the sea, and Venus rose fully 2 hours before sunrise. There were only a couple of times when we experienced lulls and had to down our sails and wait. Even then we could usually enjoy the sky as horizon to horizon viewing was possible so much of the time. We kept making progress, and at 25 degrees South we began to see Orion again, this time directly ahead. There were still no tradewinds and, once, when we were barely ghosting along at night, I let myself get worrying over our lateness and the problems it was causing as deadlines became unobtainable and family was beginning to seriously worry about us. Again I was alone in the cockpit when some large pilot whales pulled up close alongside and looked us over. For the next few days dolphins of various types, seagoing porpoises, and small and larger pilot whales all seemed to find us and make a point to say hi. Cetaceans have always seemed to like Gryphon. Perhaps it is the faintly crystalline ringing sound of her fine ferro-cement hull. But in any case we were sailing north on the northern edge of a weather system that was changing radically. The high we were clinging to had finally drifted east and left us behind enough that we were riding the front end of a mixed bag of fronts, weak high fragments, lows, and potential 'southerly busters’ Though we were hearing of vessels near us experiencing severe frontal winds, nothing onerous actually reached us. Throughout our journey north to Tahiti our timing and position again seemed very fortunate.

We laid Port Phaeton easily, and found it to be perfectly suited to our needs in a port at the time. Unfortunately we arrived on the evening of a three day holiday, and could not obtain CPF's, the currency used in Tahiti, for lack of telephone lines toconfirm our cash withdrawal requests in the laid back town of Taravao. However two supermarkets and a gas station that had a payphone and sold fresh fruits would honor my credit card with a signature. So we called home, reprovisioned, watered ship, and did a long list of minor repairs in the three nights we were there…greatly aided by friend Moeata Galenon, with whom I paddled and sailed in canoes on Kaua'i years ago. It turned out that though Moeata lives in a suburb of Papeete, her large extended family lives right adjacent to Taravao. Her grandmother gave us a huge bag of the biggest and most tasty rambutan fruit ever. From Tahiti to Hawai'i was a wonderful sail. Gryphon enjoyed a close reach almost all the way. As she produced 120 n.m. plus runs day after day for 25 days, we were reminded of how incomparably powerful and graceful a gaffer can be, given anything but light on-the-nose winds and choppy seas. We did stall for a day when we saw what became Tropical Storm Barbara coming west towards our route (see June fax). As Barbara began to move WNW we resumed course and paralleled her, and, though, at a distance of nearly 900 n.m., we experienced some nasty crossseas coming from her wake, we were in no danger. If we had not had the weatherfax we would have been o.k. too, but we would have ventured further into the area of rough seas. June 19th Weather FAX We entered the lee of Hawai'i about 15 n.m. west of Ka Lae (South Point). Though we kept moving NW we lost the wind for the night and regained it again when joining the mainstream of Alenuihaha Channel north of Kailua-Kona. That day we sailed as far as 20 n.m. south of Barbers Pt. For lack of wind, and since we had enough fuel, we motored almost all night to arrive at the entrance to Nawiliwili Harbor at 0530 the next morning, 1st July…just barely in time to claim the slip that had been offered us months earlier. The voyage was over 6,000 n.m. in all, and after almost 10 weeks at sea it is quite an adjustment to step ashore. The change in perspective almost literally "knocked the wind out of us!" When sailing we feel like birds. At sea all of a sailors attention and senses are focused on the wind. We watch and listen to the swells and waves, and our gaze is often riveted on high - among the clouds and stars. For a voyager, the sails are the primary means of being and the way one moves in the world. Through use of sails, the sailor gains a direct inspiration from the greatest wilderness on earth – the ocean, which is, after all, most of the water that covers 93% of our planets surface. Stepping ashore feels like having ones wings clipped. Suddenly the air is still. Suddenly the motion stops. There John and I were trying to stand still on the dock at Nawiliwili, and keep our balance as we started to navigate the stationary rock of Kaua’i. It felt like being marooned, with no way to spread our wings, no license to be in harmonious motion with wind and waves. I felt strangely trapped - glued and flattened to the earth - like an iron filing to a magnet. My sensitive, alert, and somewhat wild eyes suddenly became blind, for it is impossible to see the stars or the sky and sea meeting right around the horizon, and because the pollution and the land clouds cloak the stars from view. Furthermore the din of cars and planes deaden ones hearing, as does the overload of too many people and too much irrelevant information coming over blaring TV screens. The land life feels rather dangerous and, well, freakish in its illusions of comfort stability, and security. Gryphon moored in her new slip looks like a bird caught in a spiders web. When will she sail free again? She’s a working boat, and it is hard to see her held fast and know that she will be absorbing the rot-causing fresh water rains along with the many boats that never even go daysailing. Will a hurricane catch her here in this harbor for the third time? Has she given us some perspective on the lives of voyagers for the last time? Gryphon needs some routine maintenance now. Soon we of the Vaka Taumako Project hope to have her sailing out and around Kaua’i. We intend to offer such a sail to anyone who makes a major contribution to the Vaka Taumako Project fund to fly the Taumakoan crew to Kaua’i to finish building the canoe on Kaua’i. Gryphon is now availalble as photo and escort boat to upcoming voyages of this "Tealolili Kaua’i" canoe. Later on, perhaps, she can sail 4,000 n.m. to the SW - back down to Taumako to do the same for the student training voyages being planned there.

ANNOUNCEMENTS       VTP VIDEO STREAMING   The video streaming website www.archeologychannel.org has played our tape Vaka Taumako: The First Voyage and received over 100,000 hits in the first week. This organization is applying for funds on behalf of our Vaka Taumako video student Dixon Wia to bring him to their Oregon studio, via our Kaua’i studio, for advanced training in production and editing. The Archeology Channel is a non-profit that also needs funding at the rate of $500/mo. to help them to stream our tapes in the future. We plan to air another tape with them next year.     NEXT NEWSLETTER   A summary report of VTP donations and expenditures from 1996-2001 has been delayed because of delays in bookeeping reports for 2000-2001. It will appear in the next VTP newsletter.     NEW WEBSITE LINKS VTP   Roselle Bailey's Hawaiian cultural organization, "Ka’imi Na’auao o Hawai’i Nei" (to search for the truth of Hawaiian culture) has a new website,  www.kaimi.org . Kumu Bailey is now on the Board of Directors of the Pacific Traditions Society.     HOW TO USE WIND COMPASS   Dr. Mimi George and P.C. K. Kaveia are writing a draft paper "Learning to Use the Taumakoan Wind Compass" for sharing at the session on research in Polynesia Outlier at the Feb. meeting of the Association of Social Anthropologists in Oceania in Auckland, New Zealand. Excerpts from that article will appear in the next VTP newsletter.