Hōkūleʻa, Hikianalia Making Good Headway Toward Tahiti

The crews of voyaging canoes Hōkūleʻa and Hikianalia and making strides on their way to Tahiti.

Despite a few squalls, winds and visibility of the stars have allowed Hōkūleʻa and Hikianalia to get a great start on the Kealaikahiki Voyage. On Wednesday, April 20, Hōkūleʻa navigator and captain Lehua Kamalu estimated the canoes are about 255 miles along, heading toward the doldrums, and were making good headway toward their goal of navigating to the South Pacific island in French Polynesia using the ancient Polynesian technique of wayfinding.

The canoes departed Monday, April 18, from Hilo after five days of waiting for the best weather conditions to launch on Kealaikahiki, a 2,500-mile ancient sea road to Tahiti. The voyage’s focus is on navigational training and cultural protocol to prepare the crews and test the canoes for their Moananuiākea Voyage, a circumnavigation of the Pacific Ocean, next year.

For daily updates from the Kealaikahiki Voyage, including a live tracking map, click here.