Hokulea, Hikianalia’s Pacific-wide voyage plans change due to El Nino conditions

News admin June 1, 2026 0 Comments

Hokulea, Hikianalia’s Pacific-wide voyage plans change due to El Nino conditions

HONOLULU (HawaiiNewsNow) – Hōkūleʻa and Hikianalia’s Moananuikea Voyage plans around the Pacific are changing due to possible El Nino conditions this summer.

Forecasters with the National Weather Service say an above-average hurricane season is likely this year in the North Pacific Ocean.

The Polynesian Voyaging Society (PVS) announced Sunday that Hōkūleʻa and Hikianalia will adjust the next phase of the Moananuiākea Voyage.

“Our sail plan is going to be adjusted to what nature allows us to do,” said Pwo Navigator and PVS CEO Nainoa Thompson. “The world is changing. It’s getting hotter, and it’s changing us, and we’re going to have to adjust to that change. We’re going to have to adapt to that change.”

PVS said they plan to sail from Aotearoa during the third week of August and will sail north to Tonga, American Samoa, Samoa and Fiji. They will arrive in Fiji around mid-October to attend the annual United Nations Climate Change Conference and its preconference events.

The canoes have spent the last six months in Aotearoa (New Zealand), where crews have been waiting out the South Pacific hurricane season and have continued leadership, safety and heavy-weather training.

“Hōkūleʻa has always challenged us,” Thompson said. “The more we learn about the Earth, the more we understand how much we still don’t know.”

PVS said voyage leadership will continue reviewing monthly NOAA and international climate forecasts throughout the year before determining whether the canoes will continue towards Japan in late 2026.

PVS said that adjustments are part of the deeper purpose of voyaging.

“This is not a delay. It’s not a setback,” Thompson said. “To me, it’s a stepping stone of learning.”