{"id":356316,"date":"2021-11-23T06:01:53","date_gmt":"2021-11-22T20:01:53","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/?p=356316"},"modified":"2021-11-23T06:01:53","modified_gmt":"2021-11-22T20:01:53","slug":"500-sails-celebrates-first-anniversary-of-sunday-sails","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/500-sails-celebrates-first-anniversary-of-sunday-sails\/","title":{"rendered":"500 Sails celebrates first anniversary of\u00a0Sunday Sails"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"\"<\/a>
Mario Benito poses in the center with crew, Lolobeyong Benito, Marjorie Daria, Thompson Onopey, and April Repeki aboard the\u00a0Neni\u00a0canoe.\u00a0(M. DARIA)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

500 Sails celebrated last Nov. 18 its first-year anniversary since the launch of\u00a0Sunday Sails, a free program begun by Master Navigator Mario Benito.<\/p>\n

Sunday Sails\u00a0gives the public the unique opportunity to experience sailing on a traditional canoe and even learn how to sail. Despite the challenges of the COVID-19 pandemic,\u00a0Sunday Sails\u00a0has reached over 1200 participants in 40 weeks over the past year.<\/p>\n

Benito hopes to inspire others to take up sailing and navigation and by making it free, the barrier to learn and be a part of this cultural experience is removed. \u201cI want to open it up to the community, because this type of knowledge is disappearing, and we have to keep trying to pass this down. I want my son and others to learn how to carve the canoe and navigate the canoe, so please come help us revive our canoe culture,\u201d said Benito.<\/p>\n

When Benito joined 500 Sails\u2019 boatyard staff in 2020, he saw the canoes in the Guma Sakman as the means to start teaching.\u00a0Sunday Sails\u00a0is his concept and he is supported by 500 Sails staff and volunteers but, more importantly, by his extended family who sail the canoes every weekend.<\/p>\n

Benito is a Senior Sakman Leader (boatbuilder) at 500 Sails. Born and raised on the island of Polowat in Chuuk of the Houpolowat clan and Utts Wenimai and Wenipukuw, Benito is a highly respected leader who brings over 47 years of navigational experience into the fold. Since he was 4 years old, Benito has\u00a0sailed with his father, uncles (of Western renown Mau Piailug), and his grandfather, Taworhu Onopey, and\u00a0trained for years with some of the most famous late Grand Master Polowat navigators, including Hipour Ewoluth (Edward), Manipey Rapang, Teo Onopey, and Rainam Edward, who performed his\u00a0Pwo\u00a0ceremony in Guahan in 2016.<\/p>\n

Benito\u2019s understanding of the ocean is a reflection of thousands of years of oral tradition\u00a0and maritime skillsets. He\u00a0received his formal training from the Weriyaeng School of Navigation and informally from the Fanur School of Navigation.<\/p>\n

Sunday Sails\u00a0is free to anyone interested in experiencing traditional canoe sailing. It runs from 10am to 2pm and is accompanied by a potluck beach barbecue. No reservations are necessary\u2014just come to the beach behind the Guma Sakman with something to share. For more information and notices related to\u00a0Sunday Sails, visit the 500 Sails Facebook page at\u00a0http:\/\/www.facebook.com\/500Sails. (PR)<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

500 Sails celebrated last Nov. 18 its first-year anniversary since the launch of\u00a0Sunday Sails, a…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":28,"featured_media":356318,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[900],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-356316","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-featured"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/356316","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/28"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=356316"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/356316\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/356318"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=356316"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=356316"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=356316"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}