Getting a small Hawaiian voyaging canoe through one of the world’s busiest shipping lanes was never guaranteed. Malama Honua voyage organizers didn’t know for sure whether the Panama Canal Authority, which manages that 48-mile man-made waterway, would allow the canoe to pass through until the Hokule‘a arrived there.

However, after hiring a special towing vessel that met the local authority’s requirements, the Hokule‘a kicked off 2017 with a successful two-day transit across the Panama Canal, bringing it back into Pacific waters for the first time in about 20 months.

The canoe then traveled to the Galapagos Islands, an Ecuadorean-controlled archipelago that’s almost entirely a national park or marine preserve. Crews encountered a diverse array of wildlife, marveling at iguanas walking about freely and sea lions lounging nearby.

In February, Maui big-wave waterman Archie Kalepa captained the Hokule‘a for the first time as four apprentice navigators — Haunani Kane, Jason Patterson and sisters Lehua and Noelani Kamalu — guided the Hokule‘a to a remote speck of land in the vast ocean: Rapa Nui, or Easter Island. That leg, a critical training stretch for future Ohana Wa‘a (“Canoe Family”) leaders, brought the canoe back to the Polynesian Triangle.

In late March the Hikianalia left Hawaii for Tahiti to meet the Hokule‘a, and a team of apprentices navigated the crossing. Lahaina native Kala Baybayan Tanaka captained for the first time with her father, “pwo” (master) navigator Kalepa Baybayan, serving as sail master.

The canoe would travel to the Pitcairn and Marquesas islands en route to Tahiti. From there, crews led by veteran captain Billy Richards sailed to the temple ruins of Taputa­puatea, on the island of Raiatea — the ancient capital of Polynesia and a sacred site for Pacific voyagers — to celebrate the Hokule‘a’s safe return.

Shortly after 6 p.m. May 17, the Hokule‘a left Tahiti for Hawaii, the final leg. Pomai Bertelmann, a veteran Hawaii-island voyager, captained the Hokule‘a for the first time alongside navigator Ka‘iulani Murphy, an emerging leader in the Ohana Wa‘a. Then on June 8, the crew pulled Maui from the sea.