Crew Profile

Lehua Kamalu

Hometown

Mostly Hawaiʻi

Voyage(s)

Moananuiākea Voyage – Leg 1: Juneau to Yakutat, Moananuiākea Voyage – Leg 5: Prince Rupert to Vancouver, Moananuiākea Voyage – Leg 7: Tacoma to San Francisco

Bio

Lehua first sailed Hōkūleʻa in Māmala Bay in 2009. Since then, she has served as captain and one of the apprentice navigators on Hikianalia on the voyage from Hawaiʻi to California in 2018 and as navigator aboard Hōkūleʻa from Hawaiʻi to Tahiti in 2022. She also now serves as Program Director for the Polynesian Voyaging Society.

When asked what Hōkūleʻa means to her, Lehua simply replies with the meaning of the name Hōkūleʻa: “Star of Gladness.” She says she would like to see “leadership and education” accomplished through the voyages of Hōkūleʻa and Hikianalia. With Moananuiakea, she says the “enormous support around the world and particularly in the Pacific, has the potential to introduce new ideas and systems to the ocean community.”

As crew members can only wash their clothing in the rain or with saltwater, rather than use their precious rations of fresh water, Lehua says what she misses most while voyaging is “a washing machine.” When back to life on land there is one thing she says she misses about being out at sea, “quiet.”