b'CONNECTED TO THE SEAA ccording to the Kumulipo to the Hawaiian Islands and often found deep , Hawai`is sacred creation chant, everything in thein the upland forests. After days of prayer and universe is connected and everything inwork, the chosen log would be hauledsome the universe has a consciousness. The Kumulipo weighing thousands of pounds and measuringdescribes the traditional Hawaiian view that manup to 70 feet in lengthto a special shelter by is the younger sibling of nature, and how it is thethe sea, where it was carved under the kahunas responsibility of man to look after the needs ofwatchful eye and plentiful blessings into a nature, just as it is the responsibility of nature tosacred vessel that would eventually be launched care for the needs of man. When these responsi- into the water.bilities are met, man and nature achieve balance. Some wa`a are still built in this traditional Perhaps nowhere is this balance morefashion, notably the Hkle`a and the Big Islands apparent than in the island peoples relation- own Makali`i, which have faithfully replicated ship to the ocean, and to the Hawaiian canoe,those early double-hulled canoes used by the wa`a ancestral Hawaiians, and have made numerous . One of the most important tools in the culture and history of the islands, greatvoyages around the Pacific. double-hulled seafaring canoes were the ves- But the greater majority of outrigger canoes sels on which the original Hawaiians came tothese days are made of fiberglass and used by the islands from other parts of the Pacific in theracing teams as well as recreational paddlers, first place. Once here, canoes were vital to thesuch as those found at Waikoloa Canoe Club, Hawaiians sustenance and survival, providinglocated on the sand between the MarriottABOVE: At Waikoloa Canoe Club, paddlers the means by which they could fish and travelWaikoloa Beach Resort & Spa and Lava Lavayoung and old gather to enjoy and between islands. Beach Club. Here, paddlers from keiki kupuna commune with the ocean.to When Captain Cook arrived in Kealakekuacome to enjoy and commune with the ocean. Bay in 1779, he was greeted by some 1,500During winter months, paddlers sometimes getBELOW: Frequent visitors in winter months, a humpback whale breaches in canoes, a clear indication that the Hawaiianup close and personal with migrating whales! the waters off Hawai`i Island.people centered their lives in and on the ocean. There were so many canoes, in fact, that Cooks men thought they could walk to the shore stepping from canoe to canoe.Fittingly, great ceremony was associated with every aspect of the canoe, starting with finding and hewing the perfect tree, a process overseen by a kahuna. The first Hawaiian canoes were crafted of koa, a species of hard wood endemic 9 3'