(BIVN) – The iconic Hōkūleʻa and Hikianalia canoes will make Hilo the final stop on the Pae ʻĀina Statewide Sail thsi week, before leaving Hawaiʻi for three years for the Moananuiākea Voyage. 

Community engagement events are planned for Waiākea Peninsula. A welcome ceremony is tentatively scheduled for Wednesday afternoon, May 21 (weather-permitting) at the Grand Nanilo Hotel. 

Another public event will take place Thursday at the Nailoa from 3 to 6 p.m., followed by Hilo’s Hōkūleʻa Hoʻolauleʻa on Saturday (May 24) from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. at Wailoa Small Boat Harbor. The hoʻolauleʻa will be held on the makai side of the Wailoa Bridge near the Suisan Fish Market. 

Map provided by Polynesian Voyaging Society

All events are weather permitting and subject to change. 

The Polynesian Voyaging Society says the voyaging canoes were originally scheduled to depart from Oʻahu’s Mauliola (Sand Island) on Saturday morning. “Due to hazardous conditions in the ʻAlenuihāhā Channel, considered the second most dangerous channel in the world – located between Maui and Hawaiʻi Island – the departure was postponed to ensure the safety of the crew,” PVS wrote. 

Hōkūleʻa and Hikianalia are tentatively scheduled to depart Hilo for French Polynesia on May 30th to resume the four-year Moananuiākea Voyage, Circumnavigation of the Pacific. The voyage will traverse approximately 43,000 nautical miles, visiting 36 countries and archipelagos, nearly 100 indigenous territories, and more than 345 ports. 

Photo courtesy Polynesian Voyaging Society

“From their sacred maraes to their ocean science centers, to places that we know are connected genealogically to us,” PVS CEO Nainoa Thompson said, “every single signal from French Polynesia is making sure that we understand we’re connecting the family and we’re never going to let it go.”