Voyaging canoes Hokule'a and Alingano Maisu remained at anchor in Kealakekua Bay on the Big Island yesterday as repairs neared completion on a cracked steering sweep.

The crews were expected to reinstall the sweep today and also decide when the canoes will resume their voyage, said Polynesian Voyaging Society spokeswoman Kathy Thompson.

The crews unrigged the damaged sweep and took it ashore to be repaired in the workshop of a voyaging supporter.

The canoe leadership has not identified which canoe's sweep failed, maintaining that the identification of the specific canoe is not useful in terms of thinking of the voyage as a unified mission.

Voyage leaders were meeting last night to set a new time for leaving the Big Island and resuming their voyage to Majuro in the Marshall Islands, the first stop on their trip to Micronesia.

The canoes, which delayed their departure for more than a week because of weather problems, left Kawaihae Harbor Friday but turned back the next day after damage to the steering sweep was discovered.

A steering sweep is a large, paddle-shaped laminated beam used to steer the canoe. Its wide end sits in the water like a rudder, its midsection is lashed to the back of the canoe deck, and the crew manhandles the forward end to steer the vessel.

The canoes are headed for Micronesia, where the Alingano Maisu will be given as a gift to master navigator Mau Piailug.

Reach Jan TenBruggencate at jant@honoluluadvertiser.com.