We invite you to become a 500 Sails Member and join us in bringing canoe culture back into daily life in the Mariana Islands!
500 Sails Members give financial support to help build a healthy and thriving community by engaging the public in swimming, sailing, canoe building, voyaging, and traditional navigation activities. Member support also helps provide our young people with professional training and placement in maritime professions.
Your donation will be carefully used where it will have the greatest impact. We'll track your contributions each year and send you member gifts to recognize and show our appreciation for your level of support.
Memberships are a new addition to 500 Sails. Those who become members in 2024 and 2025 are recognized as Founding Members and receive the Founding Member gift decal or T-shirt depending upon their level of support. Each following year, new and continuing members will receive a different decal and T-shirt.
(Use the left and right arrows to see the member gifts)
The Founding Member design is by Chamorro artist Hank Perez Huckabay. The canoe is Neni, sailed by Master Navigator Mario Benito and crew on the first circumnavigation of Saipan in a Chamorro canoe in over 250 years. The designs in the waves were found on ancient Chamorro pottery. Red, black, and white are the traditional colors of Chamorro canoes, and the star is the navigation star Títimek or Fusiumwaguit (Polaris) — the star that never moves.
