Aloha mai Ethnomads, Keili here!
If you have been reading or following along our journey, you probably know that ʻAʻA has many meanings, which is a large reason that Chris thought it would be an appropriate nickname for our waʻa, our canoe, Nahokuhoʻokelewaʻa (e kala mai, my new laptop does not have ʻolelo keyboard yet - PC people HELP ME)
We have mentioned that ʻAʻA means to burn brightly, the zenith point of the star Sirius - which is used like a compass by Polynesian voyagers to find South, and to dare to do something. But…did you know ʻAʻA means rootlet! I honestly had to hit up google for remind me what exactly a rootlet is… haha. it is a little adventurous branch of a plants root system that usually is used to cling to nearby objects or bring water to the plant. Kind of like an anchor and water catchment system all in one.
I look around me and I see the rootlets from the seeds I have planted beginning to bring me water. Sure, they tie me down to home more than I was before, but I donʻt mind it so much when I see the garden surrounding me. These are both literal and metaphorical seeds actually.
Not only have I been dedicating myself to several practices like sailing and completing my schooling, but I have also been planting virtually every seed that comes into my kitchen. Do I know how to care for a kiwi, or even if the plant can survive here?, no. Do I have 80 little sproutletts staring at me across the sink next to all my other sip locked paper towel incubators…yeeees
I hope you are planting some seeds, perhaps we will get some rootlets (and maybe some yummy kiwis? stay tuned.) I digress, lets talk about sailing - yay!
This last weekend we decided to go for an adventure.
Hokuleʻaʻs 50th anniversary was so glorious, we had to recreate it. This time we brough Cassidy along, and she brought some scrumptious steak bentos to enjoy with the sunset and Koʻolou mountain range as backdrop. The girls slept on deck, and suprisingly we didnt encounter rain - woohooo!
Unfortunately, we are beginning to see the real damage wood rot can do…. using it as motivation to give ʻAʻAʻs deck some serious remodeling. We are pondering the possibility of doing entirely slated deck between the hulls and flattening it out since we no longer have a huge mast and no mast step is required. If anyone has experience in such reconfiguring, we would welcome all advice!
One thing is for sure, we will have to dedicate some time this weekend (weather permitting) to give her some serious TLC.
Unfortunately, I will have to cut our update a bit short since I do have to tend to my school work (it is a very demanding seed, do not recommend).
-Keʻili
Our 19 feet double canoe 'Pahi' have plain slatted deck since the building (2007) lashed above two thick bamboo crossbeams. The small bamboo mast is put on front crossbeam with a "fork" as small canoes used to do in parts of Pacific (only read it and see pictures, I'm on south america). Now i am rebuilding it and made some C profile beams (two 5 inches planks put each side of a 2x3 inches wooden core). So the C have notches that i can attach inside the planks of slatted deck. Nothing much complex. Thinks that a slatted deck will work fine on your boat. And kiwis are great!