Course Curriculum for Open

Ocean Sailing
Ka Wa`a o Ho`omana`o Mau
Day One:

Learning objectives: Waa familiarization

7.30.2015BKL

Components
The canoe was called "wa'a."
"Wa'a kaukahi" was a single-hulled
canoe; "wa'a kaulua" was a doublehulled canoe.
The various parts of a canoe had the
following names:
'aha: braided or twisted cord used in
lashing the canoe, made of pulu-niu
(coconut husk fiber), olona fiber, or hau
(hibiscus bark fiber); 'aha-niu: cordage
made of pulu-niu
'akea: hull of an outrigger canoe;
starboard hull of a double canoe
ama: float on an outrigger canoe; port
hull of a double canoe.
awa: harbor, port, cove; awa ku wa'a:
canoe harbor or anchorage; awa pae:
landing place

'eku: "snout" of the canoe, the prow,

which digs into the ocean as the snout of
a pig digs into the earth
halau wa'a: canoe house
heleuma: anchor
hoe: a paddle; to paddle
hoe uli: center steering paddle; hoe
ama: port steering blade; hoe 'akea:
starboard steering blade
'iako: arched crossbeams which fasten
the floater (ama) to the hull in an
outrigger canoe
iwi ka'ele: keel
iwikuamo'o: keel
ka'ele: canoe hull
kaula: line; kaule hau: hau (hibiscus)
rope

kaula hope: backstay, or line from mast

to stern
kaula huki: halyard, or line used to haul
up the sail
kaula ihu: forestay; line from mast to
bow.
kaula lana: mooring line
kaula luahine: lashing line running
alongside the canoe (in the mo'o on
Hokule'a) to which the pa'u or ahu
(storm cover) is lashed
kaula pa'a: stay; line to secure the
mast
kaula paepae: sheets (lines controlling
the angle of the sail to the wind)
kaula pe'a: tricing line; used to open
and close sail
kaula pu: shrouds (lines which stay the
masts to each side of the vessel)

kaupo'i: median canoe-bow cover

kawelewele: ropes used to assist in
righting a capsized canoe
ke'a: beams connecting the hulls of a
double canoe
kia: mast; kia hope: aftermast;
Hokule'a's was named "Heiau" by Chief
Tofa in 1976; kia ihu: foremast
Hokule'a's was named "Terikitu" by Chief
Tofa in 1976.
ki'i: tiki, or carved image of a god; ki'i
kane: the male tiki; ki'i wahine: the
female tiki
ko wa'a: line for towing a canoe, or
dragging a canoe hull down from the
mountain forest where it was chopped
down and rough hewn.
kua 'iako: portion of the 'iako lashed to
the canoe hull

kuamo'o: hull; keel : weatherboard

kumu kia: mast step; kumuhonua: base
of mast step
kupe: curved endpieces covering the
fore and aft parts of the hull; also called
"manu"; kupe also means "to steer a
canoe"
la: sail; la-hope: aftersail; la-ihu:
foresail
lanalana: ornmamental lashing which
binds the ama to the 'iako in an
outrigger canoe
lei hulu: feather lei flown from the tip of
the boom
liu: bilge, or inside bottom of the hull
lona: blocks on which a canoe rest when
out of water
maka ihu: point at the bow end of a
canoe

manu: curved endpieces covering the

fore and aft parts of the hull; manu
hope: back manu; manu ihu: forward
manu
moamoa: point at the stern end of a
canoe
mo'o: side planks fastened to the top
edges of the hulls to increase the height
of the sides of the canoe above the
waterline
mouo: buoy
muku: the part of the 'iako or ke'a
(crossbeams) which extends beyond the
hull
niao: the rim of the hull
noho: seat
'o pe'a: spar, or sprit; on Hokule'a, the
spar is fastened to the luff (leading
edge) of the sail, and is drawn up to the

mast by the halyards on Hokule'a, the

spar is fastened to the luff (leading
edge) of the sail, and is drawn up to the
mast by the halyards
'ope'ope: bundles, packages, baggage
brought on board the canoe
paepae: boom; the spar to which the
foot of the sail is fastened, and to which
are fastened the sheets (lines for
controlling the angle of the sail to the
wind); the boom is raised and lowered
with tricing lines
pale: barrier; pale-kai or pale-wai:
splashguards, sideboards, or
weatherboards, used to keep breaking
waves or swells out of the hull; pale
kana: safety railing along or around the
deck
pa'u: storm covers which fit over the
openings of the hulls

pe'a: sail; pe'a hope: aft-sail; pe'a ihu:

foresail
pepeiao: "ear" or projections on the
inside of the hull to hold the seats
pola: center platform or deck of a wa'a
kaulua (double-hulled canoe); also called
papahele
polena: forestay; "polena" also means
"furled, as a sail is furled" (see kaula
ihu).
pueo: shrouds
pukolu: a triple-hulled canoe
wae: spreader, used to keep the hulls of
a canoe from collapsing inward

http://pvs.kcc.hawaii.edu/ike/kalai_waa/parts.html