“To me, this is not a delay. It’s not a setback. To me, it’s a stepping stone of learning.”
– PVS CEO and Pwo Navigator Nainoa Thompson on new changes to the Moananuiākea Voyage Sail Plan.

Our sail plan for the next phase of the Moananuiākea Voyage, the circumnavigation of the Pacific, is being adjusting in response to evolving ocean and weather conditions linked to a developing strong El Nino pattern in the Pacific. Our canoes, Hōkūleʻa and Hikianalia, have spent the past six months in Aotearoa (New Zealand), waiting out the South Pacific hurricane season while crews continue leadership, safety, and heavy-weather training.

The sail plan had departure for Tonga in May, but we are now planning to depart Aotearoa during the third week of August 2026, with the intention of sailing north to Tonga, American Samoa, Samoa then Fiji, arriving in Fiji around mid-October to participate in Pre-COP, an international ocean protection gathering held about one month before the annual United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP).

We thank our partner islands, host communities, and supporters throughout the Pacific for your patience and flexibility as our voyage timing and destinations may continue to evolve over the coming months. According to Nainoa, “Our sail plan is going to be adjusted to what nature allows us to do. 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…We choose to pay respect. We choose to be humble. We choose to pay attention and make our decisions and our choices based on not what we say we’re going to do, but what weather tells us to do. What does the earth tell us to do.”

Mahalo to all for continuing to follow and support our journey!