This story ran in the Star Advertiser on Friday and given my fascination with ships and planes I had to see if the Kaiyu Maru was still docked at Aloha Tower. On my morning run I detoured to Aloha Tower Marketplace and sure enough it was still there. My plan was to try and get a tour of the ship but that did not pan out. Trying to board a foreign ship at the last minute, literally hours before they leave is futile. But I did get to meet the Roosevelt High School students, Krista Ann Lee and Ronald Li along with their teacher Jennifer Williams as they made their last minute foray into town to buy a case of diet Coke.

The threesome are on their way to Fukuoka, a 17 day trip on the training vessel Kaiyu Maru. They, along with 60 other Japan students will journey the western Pacific on the 223 foot vessel. Judging from their blog post, the first day at sea was a struggle with seasickness. It will be interesting to follow along with their adventure on the high sea. Stay tuned as I have asked Jennifer and her students to join us on Bytemarks Cafe on Dec 15th to share with us their once in a lifetime experience.

The Protect Kaho‘olawe ‘Ohana (‘Ohana) together with the Kaho‘olawe Island Reserve Commission (KIRC) worked to restore the island’s cultural and natural resources. More than 6,000 cultural practitioners, families, students, teachers and community groups were taken to Kaho‘olawe to experience the island and learn how be good stewards of the ‘āina. ‘Ohana members, volunteers and KIRC staff rededicated cultural sites, built new ones, and revived traditional cultural ceremonies. All this as a new generation steps forward to take responsibility to be kahu ‘āina and ‘ohana for Kaho‘olawe.

Kanaloa Kaho‘olawe is in transition at this time. Under Hawai‘i law, the state of Hawai‘i holds the island in trust for eventual transfer to the sovereign Hawaiian entity when it is reestablished and recognized by the federal and state governments. Passage of the  Akaka Bill begins the process that realizes the transfer of Kaho`olawe.

The ‘Ohana will kick off the Year of Kanaloa Kaho‘olawe, from October 22, 2010 to October 22, 2011, with a celebration on Friday October 22nd at the University of Hawai‘i Mānoa Center for Hawaiian Studies Halau O Haumea from 5:30 pm to 9:00 pm. The event is free and the public is invited.

The program will honor ‘Ohana members Geoge Helm and Kimo Mitchell, who gave their lives for the island, and all the members of the ‘Ohana who perservered for 14 long years after their disappearance to finally stop the bombing of the Kaho‘olawe. Organizers of the event plan to unveil a cultural plan that reestablishes Kanaloa Kaho‘olawe to its original sacred status as an center for learning indigenous Hawaiian knowledge – of the universe, the earth and all living things.

Visiting the Kaiwo Maru was quite a treat. Having been to several U.S. Navy vessels, it was a pleasure to experience (albeit short) a training vessel which is part of the Japan’s National Institute for Sea Training. Although traditional in appearance, the Kaiwo Maru is quite technologically equipped. The ship runs on diesel engines while close to port but utilizes it’s 4-masted sails when on the open ocean. Typical speed on the open ocean is 11 knots. The ship was fully equipped with radar, sonar, navigation, onboard electric power and satellite communications. On this voyage the crew consisted of 92 cadets in training (84 men and 8 women) and ship crew of 64, totaling 156. The 92 cadets are part of a multi-year training program that prepares them for a career serving commercial ships, like freighters, tankers and barges in the Japanese Merchant Marines. The above photo shows the route the Kaiwo Maru is on, from Tokyo to San Francisco and then to Honolulu. The ship leave dock tomorrow, May 23rd on its way back to Tokyo.

Capt. Makoto Inui told me that training on the Kaiwo Maru helped to instill the heart and soul of Japanese maritime into the students. The Kaiwo Maru along with the Nippon Maru represent the traditional sailing vessels of the 1860′s. Students rotate through the other more modern ships in the NIST fleet including the Taisei Maru, Ginga Maru and Seium Maru.

Some of the uniquely Japanese things I noticed on the ship was this huge rice cooker. Right next to this cooker was another one similar in size for miso soup, which probably accompanies every meal. The fry cooker was also more hibachi style than the flat grilling surfaces I’ve seen in the Navy ships. I was also a little surprised to see this vending machine. I asked the First Officer who refills this when it runs out and he told me it was him. Another thing you won’t see on any US vessel are these huge fudo or tubs for bathing. They are reminiscent of the public bath houses in Japan where the fudo is not a solitary place but one of community. The showers were the sit down type and if you notice the mirrors are about 3 feet off the ground. You can see more photos in my Flickr set for the Kaiwo Maru.

One scene which I will unfortunately miss is on departure. All the crew members will climb the mast, the tallest being 175 feet. They stand on the ropes, suspended from the mast frames and in unison bid farewell to everyone at the port. First Office Iwasaki told me that it is not for those with a fear of heights. From what I saw on the cadet video, commemorating their voyage, they do this feat quite fearlessly, and barefoot to. I wish the crew of the Kaiwo Maru all the best on a safe trip back to Tokyo.

Benny Ron on Finding a Way for Aquaculture in Hawaii from Jay Fidell.

During Bytemarks Cafe last week (Apr. 14, 2010) we covered the story about FWW’s report and asked Bill Spencer, CEO of Hawaii Oceanic Technologies Inc. to weigh in on the report. He wrote:

A highly funded, Washington, DC lobby organization, Food and Water Watch (FWW), is mounting a frontal attack on Hawaii State policy that supports open ocean mariculture. They have rallied a motley crew of rag tag environmental groups, paid many of them to attack a growing sector of our economy that is on the verge of showing the world a way to produce seafood that is environmentally responsible. This group of activists are disseminating miss-leading information that paints a picture of Hawaii’s small ocean farming businesses as harbingers of huge factory fish farms that pollute our ocean with horrible chemicals, antibiotics and fish poop. Food and Water Watch purports a host of problems with mariculture even though the industry is in its infancy in Hawaii, and none of their claims can be proven, only imagined by creative writers and spin doctors. The opportunity for a company to grow fish in Hawaiian territorial waters has been a matter of law for ten years. It has been seen as a potential economic engine that could put fishermen back to work, create thousands of jobs and even new businesses in support of the effort.

Federal policy is also being crafted that will affect the aquaculture industry and NOAA is touring the country soliciting public feedback on the issue. They were here this week and Ben Markus from Hawaii Public Radio did this piece. Jay Fidell also wrote this article that ran in Sunday’s Honolulu Advertiser.

Hawaii could potentially offer a lot to Hawaii’s food security and the diet of fish eating public with a viable aquaculture industry. The reality is, the oceans are being fished out and novel ways need to be established to sustain this food source. Why not aquaculture and why not here in Hawaii. The steps we take at this formative stage of the industry could mean the difference between success and failure.

To provide a sense of what the inside of the USS Santa Fe looks like this cutaway of a typical Los Angeles class attack submarine is a good orientation. Our first stop was the Wardroom where COB (Chief of the Boat) John Davis, LCDR Mike Beckette and Ship Doc Rob Lazarin provide the overview of ship operations. Right above the wardroom is the Control Room and Attack Center. This is the hub of activity on the submarine. Steering and navigation is located here, along with the periscopes and sonar room. It is here where Commander Dave Adams ran through maneuvering capabilities of the sub and an attack exercise. During the maneuvering exercise he took the vessel into an incline which felt like a 30 degree angle. You can see here where Nathan Kam and Melissa Chang are both standing at a forward slant. CDR Adams then took it into a decline of 30 degrees and you could feel the opposite affect of leaning backward. Quite radical when you think about it. It is like being in a bus but moving in 3 dimensions. We then did an attack simulation on a surface target. Although the sub is equipped with torpedoes and Tomahawk cruise missiles this exercise used a water slug, basically a torpedo tube filled with water. The crew provided precise readings from sonar and the sub surfaced to periscope depth. The periscope was used to visually acquire the target and made multiple short viewings to confirm. Once the target was secured the CDR gave the “fire torpedoes” command and the water slug was launched. You could hear the expulsion of water and the change in air pressure within the control room.

One cannot visit a submarine without a tour of the torpedo room. This is on the deck below the wardroom. In this photo you can get a relative size of the torpedo (in green) along side Melissa talking with LCDR Dave Benham. The torpedoes are position such that they can slide into the facing tubes. The USS Santa Fe was equipped with about 30 torpedoes mounted on a sliding mechanism that allows loading into the tubes. This is not a trivial feat in such close quarters. We did not see the vertical launch tubes for the Tomahawk cruise missiles which I assume were pre-loaded. It’s one thing to load horizontal torpedoes. With the limited space on the sub, vertical missiles need to be stored within the launch tube.

Another area I found quite interesting was the air handlers in the submarine. Being underwater for extended periods of time requires special monitoring of carbon dioxide and replenishing of oxygen. These CO2 scrubbers remove the carbon dioxide from the air in the sub. Right next to it is the electrolytic oxygen generator. It takes seawater, purifies the water by removing all the salts and minerals, then adds potassium hydroxide as an electrolyte. The water mixture is then electrolyzed separating the hydrogen from the oxygen. This oxygen is then added into the air mix replacing the carbon dioxide and replenishing the depleted oxygen. The air is constantly being monitored to maintain the right mixture of oxygen, nitrogen and carbon dioxide. Stay tuned for more as I have a video I plan to post of our visit to the sail area when the USS Santa Fe surfaces. You can also check out the set of USS Santa Fe photos on Flickr.

As the sun set, we were blessed with a clear sky filled with stars. The crew gave a lesson in star navigation as the northeasterly trade winds kept the Hokule`a in constant motion. Hokupa`a, the North Star was precisely 21 degrees above the horizon. You can always tell what latitude you are in by charting Hokupa`a, as long as you are in the northern hemisphere. While out on the ocean you are treated to sights not common on land. We were visited by this Hawaiian Booby or `A as it stayed with us for several minutes flying back and forth wanting to land on our sails. The amazing thing is the `A normally lives in remote areas in sea cliffs. Since we were still south of Honolulu with the lights of Waikiki in constant view this Hawaiian Booby must have come a far way, perhaps living somewhere near Diamond Head or further east near Koko Head. With the moon in the background it was an amazing sight.

The Hokule`a and it’s crew are preparing for the World Wide Voyage starting in 2011. This practice run was one of many to train new crew members. In 2010 the Hokule`a goes into dry dock for major renovation and refitting for the upcoming long voyage. As I look back on 2009, this experience will be one I will always remember. Mahalo to Mei-Jeanne Watson and Nainoa Thompson for making this possible.

On the second leg of her trans-Pacific solo row which started in May 24, 2009, Roz Savage has landed on Tarawa in the Pacific Island nation of Kiribati. The 105 day voyage was initially thought to take about 70 days and land in Tuvalu. In late Aug, already low on water and food, slightly off course and dealing with uncooperative winds, Savage decided to change her target of Tuvalu and reset her sights on Tarawa. In her blog she writes:

“It seems to be my karma in this lifetime to be faced from time to time with tough decisions – and this one is up there in my Top Ten Tough Decisions Of All Time. I spent most of last night agonizing over it. The night seemed hotter than usual in my cabin, and I was – literally and metaphorically – sweating over my options.”

The decision was a sound one. And although Tuvalu has received international attention about rising sea levels and loss of land, that fact is true in any of the Pacific Islands in that region, Tarawa being no different. This Pacific atolls are so fragile and the people living there are keenly aware of balance we need to maintain to keep it healthy and life sustaining.

Roz will have a couple of weeks on Tarawa before regrouping and planning the final leg of her voyage to Australia. There must be a lot going through her mind now, relieved that this segment of the journey is complete, meeting the people of Tarawa, finding storage for her boat and equipment before her next voyage, attending the Climate Summit in Copenhagen in Dec. and finishing her book. This woman is a model for us all. Stay tuned as this journey isn’t over.

The Project Kaisei team will embark on a 70 day expedition to the “Plastic Vortex”, on a return voyage from San Francisco to Hawaii in order to

• Study and document the mass of plastic in the ocean
• Test catch methods for removing the plastic particles
• Understand the needs required to undertake an eventual large scale clean-up of the waste material
• Test technology for conversion into an economically viable by-product: diesel fuel.

If the Mission proves successful, and large volumes of plastic can be captured and processed, then a full clean-up operational plan will be initiated within 18 months.

Based on an article on Reuters this past May, the Honolulu Derelict Net Recycling Program is familiar with what it takes to dispose of recovered nets. It’s a lengthy process to cut and shred the nets, remove metal and then converted to energy at the HPower plant. Their insights are helping Project Kaisei devise their strategy for the ocean waste disposal. It’s quite a monumental task and one that will involve international cooperation.

Project Kaisei is aiming to raise $2M and based on their Facebook Causes page has a ways to go, at least from FB contributors. You can also join the Project Kaisei group on Facebook and follow Doug Woodring on Twitter.

Finally, an update on Marcus Eriksen and Anna Cummings. They are on a Junk Ride from Vancouver, Canada to Tijuana, Mexico, part of the education program of Algalita Marine Reseach Foundation. And while Marcus and Anna are riding their bike down the west coast, Joel Paschal is on the reseach vessel Algalita heading, as we speak to the Pacific Gyre. I don’t know if here is a rendevous in the making but obviously the Great Pacific Garbage Patch is generating a lot of needed attention.