Sailing south with wisdom from past

Passengers on board a "floating marae" sailed into Dunedin yesterday.

The waka hourua Hinemoana will be moored at the Steamer Basin for five days before it continues its journey south from Auckland to Waikawa, near Curio Bay.

Te Toki Voyaging Trust is sailing the vessel along the coast of New Zealand with volunteer crew members to perpetuate traditional navigation skills, leadership, youth and personal development.

Captain Greg Gallop said being on the waka was about sharing knowledge and experience so it would not be lost.

"Most people that sail on here find parts of themselves that they didn’t know they had and are pleasantly surprised to find it."

He said the rules on board were about respect.

"Anything disrespectful, you need to be somewhere else — it’s that simple really," he said.

"The waka hourua for us is a floating marae, it’s a tupuna and it has its own spirit and we treat it as such."

Mr Gallop said the waka aimed to pass on traditional voyaging techniques from Micronesian navigator Pius "Mau" Piailug.

"At the time he was one of the only three navigators in the world and it looked like it was going to die out and now it’s got a huge resurgence."

Hinemoana was built about 15 years ago and has a twin-hull design.

mark.john@odt.co.nz