Le Saboteur
Active member
As a school aged delinquent in Hawai'i, one of our forms of vandalism involved slapping small, black stickers in visible locations -- they simply said "Eddie Would Go" in nice white block letters. As the resident haole, it would be some time before I would understand the story behind the phrase.
Eddie Aikau was the City and County of Honolulu's first lifeguard on the North Shore's infamous Waimea Bay. A champion surfer who fearlessly charged the bay's massive waves, his commitment to any rescue was legendary -- despite the impossible odds. And in his years as lifeguard, not a single soul was lost. Tragically, Eddie was lost at sea in '78 after paddling from the Polynesian Voyaging Society's Hōkūleʻa, a double-hulled voyaging canoe, after it capsized in heavy seas 12-miles off of Moloka'i. Today the Hōkūleʻa carries a plaque in his memory.
Founded in 1973, the Polynesian Voyaging Society was started in part to refute the theories of Thor Heyerdahl and others regarding the Polynesians' origins and navigation abilities.
In 1976 the Society, aboard the Hōkūleʻa, completed a 6,000-mile round trip journey from Hawai'i to Tahiti without aid of modern (read: Western) navigation devices. Led by Micronesian navigator Mau Piailug, the crew completed the voyage in a mere thirty-five days refuting Heyerdahl's earlier theories. Polynesians were indeed capable of purposeful navigation and were plying the Pacific long before Columbus ever set sail from Palos de la Frontera.
The Hōkūleʻa has completed nine voyages since then, including a massive twelve-thousand mile journey from Hawai'i to Tahiti and throughout the Polynesian Islands.
Studying Polynesian culture privately, Heyerdahl subsequently convinced his professors at the University of Oslo to fund an expedition to the South Pacific to study how local animal species had found their way there. The results of which were published in Norway, and subsequently forgotten about in the run up to World War II. Following other adventures, Heyerdahl organized an expedition based on his theory -- that Polynesia was settled by pre-Columbian Peruvians.
Believing the moai of Easter Island to have more in common with pre-Columbian sculpture than traditional Polynesian iconography, Heyerdahl theorized that Easter Island was originally settled by ancient Peruvians. He also believed that the legend of a power struggle between two tribes ? the Hanau epe and Hanau momoko -- was a memory of said conflict between the original inhabitants and a later wave of immigrants from the Northwest coast that eventually led to the annihilation of the Hanau epe and the destruction of the island?s once prosperous economy and culture.
In 1947 Heyerdahl, five other scientists, and pet macaw set out from Peru on a balsa wood raft intending to prove that such a voyage could have been made -- that the lack of modern sails, navigation equipment, and maps wouldn't have been a hindrance.
Directors Joachim Roenning & Espen Sandberg brought that story to the silver screen in 2012's Kon Tiki.
<iframe width="853" height="480" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/e4DZ7svBw7I" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>
A more American-oriented trailer.
<iframe width="853" height="480" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/a8RID64X218" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>
Threads get started here in the film section on a whim, but anybody interested in exploration should go out of their way to see this. It is, without a doubt, one of the greatest adventure stories of the twentieth century. The movie has opened in limited release across the states, so take a look for your local listings; otherwise, keep an eye out for the video release!
Eddie Aikau was the City and County of Honolulu's first lifeguard on the North Shore's infamous Waimea Bay. A champion surfer who fearlessly charged the bay's massive waves, his commitment to any rescue was legendary -- despite the impossible odds. And in his years as lifeguard, not a single soul was lost. Tragically, Eddie was lost at sea in '78 after paddling from the Polynesian Voyaging Society's Hōkūleʻa, a double-hulled voyaging canoe, after it capsized in heavy seas 12-miles off of Moloka'i. Today the Hōkūleʻa carries a plaque in his memory.
Founded in 1973, the Polynesian Voyaging Society was started in part to refute the theories of Thor Heyerdahl and others regarding the Polynesians' origins and navigation abilities.
In 1976 the Society, aboard the Hōkūleʻa, completed a 6,000-mile round trip journey from Hawai'i to Tahiti without aid of modern (read: Western) navigation devices. Led by Micronesian navigator Mau Piailug, the crew completed the voyage in a mere thirty-five days refuting Heyerdahl's earlier theories. Polynesians were indeed capable of purposeful navigation and were plying the Pacific long before Columbus ever set sail from Palos de la Frontera.
The Hōkūleʻa has completed nine voyages since then, including a massive twelve-thousand mile journey from Hawai'i to Tahiti and throughout the Polynesian Islands.
Studying Polynesian culture privately, Heyerdahl subsequently convinced his professors at the University of Oslo to fund an expedition to the South Pacific to study how local animal species had found their way there. The results of which were published in Norway, and subsequently forgotten about in the run up to World War II. Following other adventures, Heyerdahl organized an expedition based on his theory -- that Polynesia was settled by pre-Columbian Peruvians.
Believing the moai of Easter Island to have more in common with pre-Columbian sculpture than traditional Polynesian iconography, Heyerdahl theorized that Easter Island was originally settled by ancient Peruvians. He also believed that the legend of a power struggle between two tribes ? the Hanau epe and Hanau momoko -- was a memory of said conflict between the original inhabitants and a later wave of immigrants from the Northwest coast that eventually led to the annihilation of the Hanau epe and the destruction of the island?s once prosperous economy and culture.
In 1947 Heyerdahl, five other scientists, and pet macaw set out from Peru on a balsa wood raft intending to prove that such a voyage could have been made -- that the lack of modern sails, navigation equipment, and maps wouldn't have been a hindrance.
Directors Joachim Roenning & Espen Sandberg brought that story to the silver screen in 2012's Kon Tiki.
<iframe width="853" height="480" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/e4DZ7svBw7I" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>
A more American-oriented trailer.
<iframe width="853" height="480" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/a8RID64X218" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>
Threads get started here in the film section on a whim, but anybody interested in exploration should go out of their way to see this. It is, without a doubt, one of the greatest adventure stories of the twentieth century. The movie has opened in limited release across the states, so take a look for your local listings; otherwise, keep an eye out for the video release!
