As Hokulea heads home on her last leg of the voyage around the world her last surviving founder has died.
Anthropologist Ben Finney co-founded the Polynesian Voyaging Society in 1973 along with Herb Kawainui Kane and Tommy Holmes.
They set out to revive long-distance voyaging and non-instrument navigation.
PVS built and launched Hawaii’s first voyaging canoe in 600 years in 1975. That was Hokule’a.
Her first voyage was to Tahiti and back in 1976 which helped catalyze the Hawaiian renaissance.
Ben Finney died Tuesday surrounded by his family.
Services have not yet been announced.
Finney was 83 years old.
