July 16: Ocean Hawaii Marine Exploration Day celebrates HCC anniversary

Honolulu Community College (HCC) in partnership with the Polynesian Voyaging Society (PVS) will host a free public event for students entitled Ocean Hawai‘i Marine Exploration Day in celebration of the college’s 90th Anniversary on Friday, July 16 from 9:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. at HCC’s Marine Education and Training Center, 10 Sand Island Parkway.

Students will have a unique opportunity to tour the H?k?le‘a; learn how traditional canoes were built compared to how they are constructed today; make traditional cordage and learn how to lash or tie the cordage to keep parts of the canoe together; understand how ancient Hawaiians used stars to navigate to their destinations utilizing a mini-planetarium device; paddle 12-person canoes, and more.

Honolulu Community College is honoring the well-established partnership with the Polynesian Voyaging Society which began in 2003. The college will play an important role in the training of over 2,000 people in preparation for the 2012 World Wide Voyage of the H?k?le‘a led by master navigator and PVS Executive Director, Nainoa Thompson.

“Undertaking this monumental endeavor of a World Wide Voyage, has been made so much more easily achievable through the partnership with [HCC],” Thompson said. “[PVS] now has the educational resources and the base of operations that is important to the success of this extraordinary journey. It is our responsibility to transfer this knowledge to Hawai‘i’s keiki who are the next generation of navigators.”

The Marine Education and Training Center (METC) is ranked as one of the premier training facilities in the United States. HCC vessel fabrication students were instrumental in the refurbishment of the Hawai‘i Loa, H?k?le‘a’s sister, melding traditional and modern methods.

Ocean Hawai‘i Marine Exploration Day
Friday, July 16 from 9:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m.
Honolulu Community College
Marine Education and Training Center, 10 Sand Island Parkway