Aotearoa-bound: Hōkūleʻa, Hikianalia depart Rarotonga on open ocean crossing

Polynesian Voyaging Society’s traditional double-hulled voyaging canoes Hōkūleʻa and Hikianalia departed later in the afternoon of Oct. 21 from Rarotonga in the Cook Islands, beginning their deep-sea voyage to Aotearoa, the Māori name for New Zealand.

This open ocean crossing — which continues the Moananuiākea Voyage, a 43,000-nautical-mile, 47-month circumnavigation of the Pacific Ocean — is expected to take about 2 weeks, depending on weather conditions.

The crew for this leg of the voyage includes a mix of senior and younger navigators as well as crew members who will continue the intergenerational sharing of traditional wayfinding knowledge.

Hōkūleʻa and Hikianalia were moored for about 2 months in the Cook Islands under the care of the Rarotonga community and voyaging ʻohana.

During their stay, crew members continued training and preparing the canoes for this next major leg of the voyage.

The canoes are expected to make landfall in early to mid November at Waitangi, on Aotearoa’s northeastern coast, marking 40 years since Hōkūleʻa’s first historic landfall there in 1985.

Along with Hikianalia, Hōkūleʻa made a second visit in 2014 to New Zealand during the Worldwide Voyage.

Public events and engagements are planned throughout November in Waitangi, Auckland and Aurere to celebrate the 40-year relationship between Hōkūleʻa and the Māori voyaging community plus usher in this next chapter of the Moananuiākea Voyage.

The canoes will then enter dry dock for maintenance and remain in Aotearoa for about six months to wait out the South Pacific hurricane season before continuing their journey through the Pacific in 2026.

Nonprofit Polynesian Voyaging Society was founded in 1973 to perpetuate the art and science of traditional Polynesian voyaging and exploration.

Through these two legendary double-hulled canoes, the society engages communities and learners around the world through educational and deep-sea voyages that blend ancestral wisdom with contemporary science to inspire care for the Earth and one another.

Learn more at the Polynesian Voyaging Society website.