Liquid Robotics Kawaihae Harbor Projects

The Liquid Robotics Test and Evaluation facility is situated inside one two deep draft harbors on Hawai'i Island. For generations dating before Kamehameha the Great made it his home, Kawaihae was deeply rooted in Hawaiian culture. A massive stone temple, or heiau, overlooks the harbor. Kawaihae has been the center of the areas ocean related commerce. Once a small fishing village Kawaihae transformed into the primary port for sugar cane export. As the sugar cane industry fell apart, it became where where cattle were loaded onto barges and shipped to the mainland. Now Kawaihae has become a important commercial container port for Hawai'i Island. Two orginizations based in Kawaihae have made it their mission to perpetuate the Hawaiian culture by educating future generations. Liquid Robotics feels strongly that these orginizations must thrive to allow Kawaihae to maintain its identity. 

We are asking you to donate whatever you can to the Makali'i Voyaging Canoe, Kawaihae Canoe Club, and the Lilikini Long Distance Canoe Team. 

Makali'i Traditional Hawaiian Voyaging Canoe - $12,000

Makali’i is a 54’ traditional Polynesian double hulled sailing canoe. She was launched at Kawaihae on the Big Island on Saturday, Feb. 4, 1995. Her maiden voyage took her to Taputapuatea, Ra'iatea, in Tahiti Nui, and Nukuhiva in the Marquesas Islands in 1995.

Na Kalai Wa`a Moku o Hawai`i is a non-profit organization that conducts community educational programs utilizing Hawaiian voyaging and non-instrument navigation as its foundation.  The focal point and primary classroom for the programs is the double-hulled canoe Makali`i.  Hawaiian voyaging embodies all aspects of Hawaiian cultural traditions and practices and manifests “technology at its best” in ancient times.

The mission of Na Kalai Wa’a Moku o Hawai’i is “To perpetuate, protect and preserve the Hawaiian culture and traditions through education for future generations.’

The Makali’i’s programs are perpetually in dire need of financial support. They rely almost solely on donations from the community for funding. With mounting costs for maintaining the canoe, they are forced to operate under a looming threat of being unable to continue their youth education programs. Liquid Robotics feels connected to the Makali’i because our facility in the Kawaihae shipyard was used to haul the canoe out and maintain it.

• Makali’i – Polynesian Voyaging Society page
• Na Kalai Wa`a Moku o Hawai`i home page
• Chadd Paishon – Executive Director of Na Kalai Wa`a Moku o Hawai`i
• A Tribute To Mau Piailug And The Voyaging Canoe Makali`i – YouTube video featuring the Makali’i underway set to a musical tribute to Papa Mau. 

Kawaihae Canoe Club -$12,000

The Kawaihae Canoe Club (KCC) was founded in 1972 during a revival of the sport of traditional outrigger canoe racing. Since its inception KCC is always one of the top three of fourteen canoe clubs on Hawai’i Island.

Beyond winning canoe regattas, KCC is most dedicated to its youth programs. The head coach, founder and president of KCC has been quoted saying:

“I am pleased when a teenager gets interested in this sport and joins the club. It’s important for the kids to have something to work for, to have a challenge, a sense of direction and to develop discipline. They are part of a unit, an important part, with other parts depending on them. It helps build character, bodies and friendship.”

KCC’s fundraising event is their yearly luau. Approximately 600 people pay every November to eat traditional Hawaiian food and be entertained by hula and fire dancers. Between membership dues and the proceeds from the luau KCC typically raises enough to cover its operating expenses. This year KCC has two specific needs beyond its day-to-day operation. Two of the club’s canoes are in need of replacement. A single 40-foot long 400-pound fiberglass canoe is $12,0000. Additionally the youth program’s 15-passenger van must be replaced before next year’s regatta season in the spring. 

Team Lilikini - Molokai'i Channel Race - $5,000

The ten women of Team Lilikini are planning to enter the Na Wahine o Ke Kai Moloka’i Channel race on September 23, 2012. The course takes them 40 miles from the island of Molokai'i to Oahu as they paddle their 6 person canoe, 40' long, 400 lbs canoe through the treacherous waters of the Ka'iwi Channel. The team must make a crew changes from an escort boat every 20-30 mintes. The paddlers are dropped off to wait in the rough water ahead of the canoe. They climb in while everyone else is still racing furiously. It takes 5-8 hours to reach Oahu. Roughly 200 canoes and thousand of people from all over the world participate in this yearly event. 

Team Lilikini needs help funding travel arrangements for the team, a canoe, and their escort boat to get to Moloka’i. 

Please help them proudly represent the Kohala Coast in this international race.