Koa'e Kea

White-Tailed Tropicbird or Koa'e Kea

Phil beautiful "Koa'e Kea" piece today at One Gallery in Hilo.  It was inspired by the navigational star chart used by the Polynesian Navigational Society.

He had this beautiful piece of Koa wood in his wood shop and knew there was a bird shape in it, but it took several weeks to bring the whole piece into being.  It is mounted on Mahogany.  This is his interpretation of the star chart that features 32 points associated with stars.

It is really quite interesting that Phil's mother, Margaret at age 96, left on her Final Voyage on the same day that the Wa'a (traditional Polynesian sailing vessels) Hōkūle‘a and Hikianalia left from Hilo on their three year round the world voyage.  This week, they arrived In Tahiti...10 days early.

The Mālama Honua Worldwide Voyage will visit 85 ports and 26 countries, including 12 of UNESCO’s Marine World Heritage sites, through June 2017. The first stop for Hōkūle‘a and Hikianallia is Tahiti, where Hōkūleʻa made her first voyage in 1976. The voyage is made possible by many community sponsors and partners, including Hawaiian Airlines, the University of Hawai‘i, Kamehameha Schools, the James and Abigail Campbell Family Foundation, the Office of Hawaiian Affairs, and many more.

To read more about this amazing journey, please go to this link:
Polynesian Voyaging Society