Polynesian Voyaging Canoe Mo’okiha ‘o Pi’ilani LAUNCH & Final Fundraiser “Last Call”
Howdy Folks,
You may recall my earlier email entitled “Polynesian Voyaging Canoe Mo'okiha O Pi'ilani Fundraiser”, which was aimed at raising construction-completion funds for the 62-foot Mo'okiha O Pi'ilani (photos) being built by Maui NGO Hui O Wa’a Kaulua (Facebook). This Waʻa Kaulua Polynesian double-hulled transoceanic voyaging canoe is the type used in ancient times to discover & settle all the island nations of the Polynesian Triangle.
If you attended the 2012 annual San Francisco Bay Area Aloha Festivals, you will remember that I promoted the project there. I also had booths at Aloha festivals in Napa (photos) & Sacramento (photos).
I’m excited to report that fundraising efforts have been fruitful! Construction of the canoe is essentially complete & a launch date has been set! The week before launch the canoe will be loaded from her Hui headquarters construction shed onto a specially constructed trailer & towed to her launch point at nearby Mala Boat Ramp (route), where she is slated to enter the Pacific the morning of January 17 (updated from date shown on previous poster). My wife Toni & I are aiming to attend & shoot plenty of HD photo & video.
There is just a tad of final fundraising to do, as we are short only a few thousand dollars to cover the costs of miscellaneous nautical sundries, mostly safety equipment. The Hui has set up an online crowdfunding campaign, with donation-level thank-you gifts of T-shirts, posters & the like, on Indiegogo. Please consider contributing what you can & forwarding this message to as many of your friends & social networks as possible to help our much-admired Pacific Islanders achieve the full flowering of their Polynesian Renaissance.
On behalf of Hui O Wa'a Kaulua for Mo’okiha ‘O Pi’ilani, thank you in advance for any help you can provide,
Sincerely,
Cliff & Toni Thompson
Administrators