Double hulled canoe with Wai'anae roots makes triumphant return from being ship wrecked.

Far from home, capsized, and buried in the sand, neglected, and in desperate need of repair, this is how they found the Eala after a storm washed her up on a beach in Maui. The 30 year old voyaging canoe is owned by the Hawaiian Civic Club, who rented her out to a tourist company on Maui. After that company went bankrupt, she was left unused and in a state of disrepair.
In Hawaiian, the word Eala, means to awaken, and the vessel was built for just that purpose, “Eala was born in Waianae, in 1981, and she was built for... an awakening for the community, since that awakening, she was used within the community and all over Oahu,” crew member Sam Kapoi said.
From her dire situation in Maui, Eala was brought back home to Waianae, restored and made ready to sail.“Eala has never been home from it’s birth. She was born [launched] in 82.” Kapoi said, “She’s always been around He’ea, down He’ea side, by the fish pond, and Kualoa, and that’s fine, but if this canoe is born in Waianae, for the people of Waianae, only makes sense to be in Waianae, " He added. The community is currently planning to build a permanent halau [canoe housing] for the Eala in the Waianae boat harbour.
The construction of the Eala was a community effort, and she was used by the Waianae community for many years as a training vessel for future sailors and navigators, many from Waianae High School. The NR academy at Waianae was very much involved with Eala from the 1990’s to early 2000, before it was rented out, “I first got involved with the Eala program when I was in high school with the Hawaiian studies program. And then, just got into volunteering for life, pretty much, for the Polynesian Voyaging Society,” Kapoi said.
Now that Eala is back home, and in much better shape, the crew, and other members of the community are planning to get her back on the water again, “In 2006 I had this dream of coming home and running this program and taking care of this canoe. When I graduated from college, I came back home and pretty much made it happen,” said Kapoi.
He and many others in the voyaging community are planning to start a program focusing on the Eala, “After we build the halau, in the mean time we’re planning on creating this full education system, utilizing the canoe, because on the canoe, you can learn a crazy amount of stuff that the DOE teaches in school, with math, science, geology, it’s unlimited,” Kapoi said.
For those who have worked on the Eala, they know that sailing her is a very special experience, “From what I saw when I was in school, and just, from myself and a few of my friends, is that any canoe, especially Eala is... it was, like a saving tool... we’re taught as the canoe being our mother and the navigator being our father. You know, we, have hard times, whether it’s just life in general we can always resolve back to the canoe and just take care. Even if she not in the water, just being around her and stuff, she gives you that comfort, you just gotta’ experience it to feel it," Sam Kapoi said.