Hayashi, Baker chronicle Alingano Maisu voyage

Kazuyo Hayashi, second right, joins the crew of Alingano Maisu in arranging their belongings and other supplies after arriving on Saipan last Saturday following their close to two-month long voyage across the Pacific. (Jon Perez)

Kazuyo Hayashi and Aylie Baker have been chronicling their voyage with the crew of Alingano Maisu. They have a combined eight years of taking part in the travels made by the 60-foot sailing canoe that was a gift by Hawaiian students to Sesario Sewralur’s father and master navigator Pius Mau Piailug.

Hayashi has joined the trip five times while it was the third for Baker. They have been taking notes and photos in order to write their experiences with Hayashi hoping to finish her book, while Baker just a simple travelogue of being part of Alingano Maisu’s adventures and voyage to different islands in the Pacific.

The Maisu is a 60-foot Polynesian double-hulled voyaging canoe that was built in Hawaii by several organizations that learned the traditional method of sailing from Piailug. Its maiden voyage was in March 2007; it sank midway in its trip from Yap to Palau in 2013 with all its crew being safely rescued by U.S. Coast Guard and other nearby ships.

Seeing the position of the stars, reading the weather and wind conditions, feeling the swells and ocean current, and watching the birds and other ocean species are part of the traditional way of navigating the seas just like what the early Carolinians did.

Hayashi, a Japanese writer, said she met Sewralur’s father in 2003 when she was gathering information for a feature story about Saipan. She then asked the master navigator for an interview to tell his story, which Piailug agreed to.

“We talked about his experience learning the traditional way of sailing, the trips he made to different islands, and sharing the information to others. At the end of our conversation, he asked me if I wanted to join his next trip but I did not said yes right away,” said Hayashi.

From there, she kept in touch with Piailug and in 2004, after almost a year, she joined the master navigator’s son, Sewralur, in a different sailing canoe from Yap to Palau to attend the 2004 Festival of the Pacific Arts that was held in Koror.

When Piailug received Maisu from Hawaii, Hayashi joined three other trips with this being the fifth time. They sailed from Koror on March 15 with the final destination in Guam to attend the 12th Festival of the Pacific Arts, which opens on May 22.

“This book project is the hardest and longest one that I’m doing. I started writing this book in 2010 and it’s not yet complete. Once I’m done, I will find a publisher so that my experience meeting people from other islands and their culture would be known,” added Hayashi.

Baker is also writing her own story but would rather leave the book publishing to Hayashi. “She’s the master writer, I am just her student,” she said with a laugh. “But definitely I’m learning a lot from her. I hope to write my own story, maybe similar to a travelogue or something.”

She was in Palau interviewing students for a paper she’s been doing about caring for the environment and climate change when she met Sewralur in 2010. She got invited to join their trip to Yap State’s outer islands.

“I just loved the trip, so I promised to come back. This was my third trip with the group and the longest. This voyage was planned three years ago and they have been preparing for this to make sure the trip won’t have any problems,” said Baker, an environmental studies graduate of University of Oregon.

“I’ve been studying how the Pacific Islands have been adapting to climate change and navigation is an important part of that. I am very passionate about the environment and at the same time got interested on the traditional way of navigating the seas that’s why I joined them especially in this trip,” she added.

It was a festive atmosphere at PCC in Koror in the send off last March 15 with songs and dances performed by the Micronesian Society.

On Saturday, the crew moved Maisu from the Smiling Cove to the waters near the Carolinian Utt in Garapan. Sewralur said their first plan was to dock near the Utt but low tide prevented them. They will leave on May 17 for Guam in time for the May 22 opening of the Festival of the Pacific Arts where they expect to be welcomed by delegates from Micronesia.

Seven-year-old Dylan—Sewralur’s son and the youngest crew member—Rodney Kazuma and Murais Sebangol of Palau, Satawal’s Miano Sowraenpiy and Albino Esoailug, Norman Tawelimai of Ifalik, and Japanese and Osamu Kasuge are the other crewmembers aboard Maisu.