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Okeanos Marianas back on Saipan
The Okeanos Marianas finally returned to Saipan yesterday after a delay due to weather conditions.
The double-hulled Polynesian canoe was originally set to arrive on Saipan on Wednesday noon, but harsh weather conditions delayed the vaka motu’s arrival by 20 hours.
According to 500 Sails executive director Pete Perez, he and his companions on the voyage were stuck off the north coast of Rota for 20 hours because the weather would not let up and the winds blew against the direction they needed to go.
Perez said the voyage to Yap was much easier and was also monumental because one of the Okeanos Foundation for the Sea employee Steve Tawake led the voyage using traditional navigation for the first time.
According to Perez, he learned more about sailing during his voyage to and from Yap that he will use with the Carolinian and Chamorro canoes that are yet to be built at 500 Sails.
“I’ve been a sailor since I was a kid but never an open ocean and blue water sailor and now I learned a lot about conditions and a lot about how to handle the sail to make the boat more manageable and that’s going to apply directly to our Chamorro and Carolinian canoes that we make,” he said.
During the Yap Summit, it was discussed that the ancient trade routes used by ancient Chamorros and ancient Carolinians to get to the neighbor islands are slowly opening up and will connect the islands again through a network of canoes. “They’re opening up as the canoes appear,” said Perez.
According to Perez, it was discussed that the next to receive vaka motu like the Okeanos Marianas would be Palau and then Yap would follow.
Perez said that during the summit, he came to the realization that he wants diversity in the canoes 500 Sails will build. 500 Sails will not solely build Chamorro canoes anymore, they will also start building Carolinian canoes and canoes that he saw during the Yap Summit.
Aside from Perez and Tawake, Jason Aldan, Andrea Carr, Jerry Joseph, Leo Pangelinan, India Tabellini, Sesario Sewralur, and Cecilio Raiukiuliriy were on the Okeanos Marianas voyage back to Saipan.
