Category: Ocean

Kirk and Bailey Fritz have a special father/daughter Sunday planned for July — prone paddleboarding to Molokaʻi

Nainoa Thompson was his impossibly humble self speaking to a gathering of Hōkūleʻa fans at the Four Seasons Oʻahu on January 28. “I’m nothing,” he reminded us multiple times.

Perhaps. But when he calls someone like Jeff Stone, the developer of Ko Olina, his call gets answered. Stone and Thompson partnered to get more than 30,000 west side kids to visit Hōkūleʻa before she left on her worldwide voyage.

Why was that important? Because, according to Thompson, the Hōkūleʻa’s trip wasn’t worth the risk unless it was clear that it would mean something to the children of the west side.

“We went to 400 ports around the world,” Thompson said. “The Waiʻanae coast is the most important.”

“It’s the highest population of Native Hawaiians in the world. It’s the core of who we are.”