Welcome back to Hang 10 with Birdie, where we catch up with friends Birdwell has made along the way, in and out of the water. In this edition, surfer, sailor, and USCG certified Captain Austin Kino takes a break from the serious business of reviving the ancient tradition of instrument-free navigation to answer a few questions for us. At only 28, Austin’s already traversed the world as an apprentice navigator on the Hōkūle’a, a modern incarnation of the traditional double-hulled voyaging canoe that brought the first Polynesians to the archipelago of Hawaii. Since his return, he’s been busy, co-founding Huli the Movement, an environmental education program, and founding and operating Holokino Hawaii, a commercial sailing canoe that operates adventure tours, sans instruments, near his lifelong home in Oahu’s Maunalua Bay. Austin's a dedicated student of celestial navigation, working towards becoming one of the next generation of captains and navigators. A hui hou käkou!

 

 

1) What's your super power?

• No super powers

2) Where are you as you answer these questions?

• My house in Palolo Valley on Oahu’s South shore

3) Favorite book?

• The Alchemist

 

 

4) Who do you trust the most?

• My Ohana "family"

5) What’s in your car trunk (or van or wagon) right now?

• Swim Mask, Dafin Body surfing Fins, Yoga Mat, Rigging Line

 

6) Longboard or short board (or type of outrigger)?

• Whatever the day and conditions call for

7) Coolest animal you’ve bumped into out in the water?

• We sailed right next to a pod of sperm whales while coming into the island of Pitcairn island while sailing on the Hokulea World Wide Voyage

8) Best compliment you ever received?

• From a family who I took sailing on my canoe " that was the best time they had ever experienced on the Ocean together"

 

 

9) Favorite wave?

• Mākaha Beach

10) SurfNyl or SurfStretch?

• The SurfNyl is my go to for voyaging because of its durability, but I have been stoked on surfing in the SurfStretch