Winner of numerous awars for design, photography, and writing, Discovery chronicles the dramatic saga of Polynesian exploration, celebrating the genius of anicent navigators and the triumph of Hawaiian civilization. As the world traveled closer to the distant archipelago, and many travelers landed o [...]
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What really happened to Eddie Aikau? In her inspirational new children’s book, Eddie Wen’ Go: The Story of the Upside-Down Canoe, former Hōkūle‘a crewmember Marion Lyman-Mersereau imagines what Hawai‘i’s ocean creatures saw when the voyaging canoe capsized and the heroic Aikau went for help. Illustrated in lavish watercolor by Melissa DeSica, the 64-page hardcover book tells the story of Hōkūle‘a’s disastrous journey—30 years ago—from the canoe’s launch to the crewmembers’ rescue.

Hōkūle‘a had embarked on only its second open-ocean voyage, bound for Tahiti and relying on the skills of a trained Hawaiian navigator using ancient traditional methods of navigation. Just six hours into the voyage, high winds and rough ocean conditions capsized the canoe in the middle of the Kaiwi Channel between O‘ahu and Lāna‘i. Eddie Aikau, a famous big wave surfer and North Shore lifeguard, volunteered to paddle a large surfboard to the island of Lāna‘i, about ten miles away. The crew, including author Lyman-Mersereau, was sighted by an airline pilot and rescued approximately 22 hours after the canoe capsized. No sign of Eddie was ever found.

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