Getting a small Hawaiian voyaging canoe through one of the world’s busiest shipping lanes was never guaranteed, but Hokule‘a crews overcame that uncertainty and other obstacles to successfully transit the Panama Canal on Wednesday.

The milestone two-day crossing brings Hokule‘a back into Pacific waters for the first time in about 20 months, and it sets the vessel up for the final six-month stretch of its three-year voyage around the world.

The Polynesian Voyaging Society, which organized the Malama Honua (“Care for the Earth”) sail, has been working with local officials in Panama since the summer to make the transit, Chief Operations Officer Heidi Guth said Wednesday.

The Oahu-based voyaging society didn’t know for sure whether the Panama Canal Authority, which manages the 48-mile man-made waterway, would allow the canoe to pass through until the Hokule‘a arrived there, she said.

“They’re very, very strict,” Guth said of the canal authority. “They couldn’t tell us because they’d never seen anything like Hokule‘a before” and would have to inspect the canoe in person first, she added. “No guarantees.”

Hokule‘a arrived at Colon, Panama, on Jan. 2 but the crew found itself in a time crunch. The authority required the voyaging society to hire a special towing vessel that could maneuver both forward and backward at 8 knots against the canal’s strong currents, Guth said. The crew had to wait several days for that vessel, the DWS Linda, to become available.

The canoe, which is modeled after traditional Polynesian sailing vessels and doesn’t have engines, was then scheduled to cross Monday but repairs to the canal’s locks pushed that departure to Tuesday, officials said. Then, once inside the canal, the crew members narrowly avoided further clearance delays that would have caused them to miss their Thursday flights home, Guth said.

“It came down to the wire,” said Guth, adding that she’s been staying up late to get updates from Panama. Had the delays persisted, the voyaging society likely would have had to start the transit process over with the new crew that’s traveling to Panama now, she said.

The canoe is expected to stay in Balboa for about seven days, where crew members will provision Hokule‘a for its upcoming sail to the Galapagos Islands, according to the voyaging society. The vessel is slated to return to Oahu in mid-June.

“This crew had to wait double the time they had planned on” to cross the canal, Guth said. “The main focus throughout is always taking care of mama Hokule‘a. She’s the priority. We need to get her home safely. She’s really on her way home now because of them.”