Manaiakalani

Model Voyaging Canoe based on Hokule‘a

RDK Herman, 2017

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Materials

Hulls

Hatches

‘Iako

Lashing

Manu

Pola

Heiau, Palawai & Rail

Navigator Platform

Small Pieces

Sails & Rigging

In 2013, as I was working on my 16-foot outrigger canoe, I was already starting to give presentations on traditional canoe building. What I really wanted was a model voyaging canoe for demonstration purposes. I had, a few years previously, facilitated an acquisition of Hawaiian art from the late Moloka‘i artist Bill Kapuni for the National Museum of the American Indian. That acquisition included a beautiful model voyaging canoe. Canoe builders and Friends of Hokule‘a Jay Dowsett and Tay Perry told me they thought it was a model of the Mo‘okiha canoe being built on Maui.

Either way, once this model became part of the NMAI collection, it could not be used for demonstration purposes. It could only be displayed under certain conditions (glass case, appropriate lighting, etc.) and a with whole lot of paperwork. So I thought, Maybe I should just build my own.

I had not really been on Hokule‘a at that time, and had only a handful of pictures, mostly from the internet. I took Herb Kane's original drawing—the only schematic diagram I could find at the time—and blew it up to four feet in length. I did know that the ‘iako had been expanded, and I had some pictures to work with on that. Otherwise, I was pretty much on my own until I sailed on Hokule‘a in 2016. Then I took a slew of pictures, capturing as many details as possible to guide me in my work.

As I wrote about here, part of my aim of being on Hokule‘a for this trip was to become "ma‘a to the wa‘a"—to become intimately familiar with the canoe. Unlike my Hawai‘i counterparts, my residence on the East Coast of the U.S. prohibits me from working on or training on Hokule‘a, except for a few brief and rare instances. Building this model was to make up for that.

And so my aim was to make it as accurate and authentic as possible, but within reason. I made the hulls in 2013, using thin plywood and the stitch-and-glue technique. This means they do not have that lovely, curved heart-shape of the Hokule‘a hulls. They are more like the hulls of the Makali‘i. The Kapuni model has heart-shaped hulls, and one can see that they were meticulously strip-planked. I did not have the patience for that, and decided it was unnecessary since the canoes made since then do not have that shape.

Other than that, the one key mistake I made was not making the deck long enough at the bow. Hokule‘a has two additional ‘iako to support the bow deck out to the manu, mine has only one, and no room for the giant cleat and tow-rope hatch found on Hokule‘a.

I created this little website because I am not a professional boat-builder. I have built one outrigger sailing canoe, from a set of plans, and then this model, without plans. So I share my experience should anyone else want to give this a try.

For detailed photos and explanations of the building process, beyond what is below, please click on the links provided.

Bow & Palawai

Rail Lashing

Bow & Palawai

Rail Lashing