Wind returns to hasten Hokule‘a

The canoe speeds through 26 miles during the night with the Alingano Maisu

With the northeast tradewinds resuming, the double-hulled Hawaiian sailing canoes Hokule'a and Alingano Maisu picked up speed on their journey to Micronesia, the Polynesian Voyaging Society reported.

The canoes traveled 26 miles during the night, according to Mike Taylor, captain of the escort vessel Kama Hele.

"Now, we're cooking," Taylor said in a news release.

Taylor said the winds returned Thursday night and were blowing between 23 to 28 mph.

The vessels had been tacking under light winds from the southwest since Saturday.

Taylor said the crews aboard both vessels are doing well.

The crew shared a mahimahi caught Thursday, serving as a perfect birthday celebration meal for crew member Keala Kahuanui on the Alingano Maisu, Taylor said.

The vessels are heading toward Johnson Island, about 804 miles southwest of Hawaii, then will set their bearing southward to Majuro in the Republic of the Marshall Islands.

Both vessels left Kealakekua Bay on the Big Island on Jan. 23. The trip from the Big Island to Majuro is more than 2,000 nautical miles.

The Hokule'a is accompanying the crew of the Alingano Maisu, a vessel that will be given as a gift to Mau Piailug, the Satawal island navigator who taught them Pacific island wayfinding and opened the traditional way to deep-sea voyaging again.

The Hokule'a is sailing west-southwest in the direction of Aina Kona on the Hawaiian star compass, a Hawaiian adaptation of Piailug's Satawal compass.

The Alingano Maisu, built by the Big Island-based Na Kalai Wa'a Moku o Hawaii at Kawaihae Harbor, is employing Piailug's Satawal compass on its journey toward him.