From Kohala to Kahului, crossing the Alanuihāhā channel, the 36th Hawaiian Sailing Canoe Association has commenced their ...

That vessel — a double-hulled sailing canoe called the Hokulea, after the Hawaiian name for the star Arcturus — would even influence the Disney blockbuster “Moana” decades later.

That vessel — a double-hulled sailing canoe called the Hokulea, after the Hawaiian name for the star Arcturus — would even influence the Disney blockbuster “Moana” decades later.

Yet building the canoe was only half the challenge. No one in Hawai‘i truly knew how to sail it. The search for a navigator led them 4,000 kilometers west, to the tiny Micronesian island of Satawal.

Carl Cozza, of Bolton, got the mast ready for sail on his canoe as he enjoys day at Mansfield Hollow Lake, Wednesday, June 4, in Mansfield.

That vessel — a double-hulled sailing canoe called the Hokulea, after the Hawaiian name for the star Arcturus — would even influence the Disney blockbuster “Moana” decades later.

That vessel — a double-hulled sailing canoe called the Hokulea, after the Hawaiian name for the star Arcturus — would even influence the Disney blockbuster “Moana” decades later.