Special July Presentation – Polynesian navigation and ocean-going waka

Speaker Stan Conrad

 

I started my Voyaging in 1985 on the double-hull Voyaging Waka Hokule’a from Hawaii. Then in the year 1992 I captained the Voyaging Waka, Te Aurere, that Sir Hector Busby built, on its maiden voyage to Rarotonga. In 1993, I was the skipper of Te Aurere on its circumnavigation of the North Island and in 1995 I captained Te Aurere from Tahiti to Hawaii, Te Aurere being the first Maori Voyaging Waka to cross the equator in centuries. 

 

In 2012 I sailed Te Aurere, accompanied by Nga Hiraka Mai Tawhiti, Sir Hector Busby’s second Voyaging Waka, to Rapa Nui (Easter Island).

 

I’m so grateful to have the knowledge of Voyaging, Traditional Navigation and Waka building taught to me by Mau Piailug, Nainoa Thompson and Sir Hector Busby. Today I pass the knowledge to the next generation.