The Hokule‘a and Hikianalia voyaging canoes returned to Oahu early this morning. Hikianalia arrived at the Marine Education Training Center at Sand Island at around 4:30 a.m., and the Hokule‘a arrived at around 5:30 a.m.

The canoes returned from their 3-week training voyage, where they traveled into Moananuiākea, the deep region of the Pacific Ocean. On this voyage, the crew received 900 miles of training and crossed seven of the nine major channels in the lower eight Hawaiian islands.

Originally, the crew planned to travel to the Inter-Tropical Convergence Zone, known to sailors as “the doldrums,” but were delayed due to dangerous conditions in the Alenuihaha Channel between Maui and the Big Island.

Despite this, the crew was able to continue their training focused on traditional navigation and safety, and tested the newly-refurbished canoes in strong winds and rough waters.

“Although our intent was to take the crew into the storm of the doldrums, mother nature had other plans. We still had a robust training nonetheless and we still hit Moananuiākea,” PVS president and Pwo navigator Nainoa Thompson said in a release today. “There have been many gifts of learning that we never ever imagined, because we were forced to change. It’s been a spectacular training program.

The voyage was the first training sail in preparation for the Hokule‘a’s May 2022 Moananuiākea voyage, a 41,000-mile, 42-month circumnavigation of the trans-Pacific region that will visit 46 countries and archipelagos.

The Polynesian Voyaging Society is currently planning its next training voyage to the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands for next month.