“HE WA’A HE MOKU"
We tried to get photos of Makali’i under sail for about 3 years but the timing never worked … night-time departures, cancelled sailings, bad weather, etc. So as they were returning from an educational voyage with several students to Mokumanamana, we hired a boat and went out from Kawaihae to get photos of them at sea. It was wild weather, windy, choppy, and the little boat was bouncing all over the place, but we spotted them on the horizon and were determined to reach them. However, just before we were close enough for good photos, they had to drop their sails and tack back and forth toward Mahukona because of the dramatic weather. We followed them and even though their sails weren’t up, Ed was able to add them from previous photos via the Photoshop app (another thing he has mastered). He wanted to portray them at night … reading the stars. Clay Bertelmann stated years ago “he wa’a he moku, he moku he wa’a” … the canoe is our island, the island is our canoe. He and his brother Shortie were the prime force in the creation of Makali’i and Na Kalai Wa’a.