Polynesian Voyaging Society puts circumnavigation of the Pacific on hold

The Polynesian Voyaging Society (PVS) has put its circumnavigation of the Pacific on hold.

It said due to El Niño conditions it has decided to keep the vessels primarily in Hawaiian waters until next year.

“In terms of our oceans, we are, in my opinion and not from a scientific point of view, but from just experience over 49 years of sailing this canoe, we’re in a changing ocean and we need to pay attention,” PVS chief exective and pwo (master) navigator Nainoa Thompson said.

It was originally meant to sail on to Mexico, central and South America in January and February this year, and explore Polynesia until arriving in New Zealand in December 2024.

The vessel Hōkūleʻa sailed south through British Columbia, to Washington State, and down the West Coast of Oregon and California after engaging with First Nations communities, Native Hawaiian communities and the general public in 45 ports.

Hōkūleʻa returned home from San Diego, California in December 2023, in the wake of the devastating fires on Maui and because of the El Nino weather patterns in the Pacific causing unpredictable conditions.

The circumnavigation is set to resume in March 2025, when the vessels Hōkūleʻa and Hikianalia head first to the major island groups of Polynesia.

In the meantime, the organisation and its crews will focus on other initiatives including training and educational outreach.

This year, the Society is ramping up crew and captain training, including two deep-sea voyages to the Intertropical Convergence Zone, known also as the doldrums, and back, in late spring or early summer.

“We’re adding on the convergence zone as a strategic training ground for future captains and navigators,” Thompson said.

“Hawaiʻi is really this web of all of these special training grounds for different reasons, primarily because of our islands and what they do to the winds and the ocean.

“We’re very, very blessed that we have learned to use these islands as a school.”

The circumnavigation of the Pacific is set to cover an estimated 43,000 nautical miles, 36 countries and archipelagoes, nearly 100 indigenous territories, and more than 300 ports.