Hawai'i's voyaging canoes plan to cut short their visit to Pohnpei and leave by today, cutting two days off their stay to make up time and avoid the tropical cyclone season in the Western Pacific later in the voyage.

The canoes arrived at Pohnpei in the Federated States of Micronesia Wednesday night after a seven-day rain-swept passage from Majuro in the Marshall Islands. They originally planned a seven-day stay, but weather and equipment delayed their departure from Hawai'i, and their initial leg to Majuro was slower than anticipated.

They are 19 days behind schedule, said Nainoa Thompson, the noninstrument navigator who flew to Pohnpei Friday to step aboard as skipper of the canoe Hokule'a.

"We're not going to recapture all of that," but the canoes want to pick up as much time as possible, he said. The canoes already dropped the island of Kosrae from the schedule, which was bypassed on the most recent leg, and may drop others.

The next stop for Hokule'a and Alingano Maisu is the island of Chuuk, an estimated four-day sail from Pohnpei. A four-day stay is scheduled there, but that could be shortened as well.

Thompson cited tropical cyclone statistics: Every 10 years on average, the region has one cyclone in February, four in March and eight in April.

"So the formation of tropical cyclones doubles in April compared to March. Staying in Micronesia longer just adds risk," Thompson said. "The bummer is that because we left late, we don't have the ability to wait for (good) weather. Nobody's happy about it."

After sailing the width of Micronesia, Hokule'a will sail north to Japan for a goodwill tour through several Japanese islands. Thompson said he is particularly concerned about the possibility of running into a major storm during the passage north to Japan, which is now scheduled for mid-April.

He anticipated spending his time in Pohnpei in discussions with the voyage leadership, which includes Bruce Blankenfeld, who has captained Hokule'a thus far; Shorty Bertelmann and Chadd Paishon, who are captain and navigator, respectively, aboard the canoe Alingano Maisu; and Mike Taylor, skipper of the escort boat Kama Hele.

At Chuuk, Hokule'a, with an oversize crew of 16, will take on four more. Twenty crew and passengers on a long passage is a record in the three-decade life of the canoe, Thompson said.

The smaller Alingano Maisu at last report would also be heavily laden but with a slightly smaller crew.

The point of the large passenger load is to ferry people to the island of Satawal — the next major stop after Chuuk — for a ceremony that links the Hawaiian and the Micronesia people.

Thirty years ago, the Satawal master navigator Mau Piailug came to Hawai'i and taught Hawaiian sailors how to navigate without instruments. It was an art that had been lost in Hawai'i but still survives in a couple of remote parts of the Pacific.

The information Piailug provided was a spark in the Hawaiian renaissance and launched a fascination in Hawai'i with canoe voyaging. Canoe building and sailing has been strongly linked to education. Teachers say the canoes provide an important platform for getting children excited about learning all kinds of things: math, biology, history and culture, boatbuilding, astronomy, oceanography and more.

As a gesture of gratitude, the Big Island voyaging society, Na Kalai Wa'a Moku o Hawai'i, with the help of the statewide voyaging community as well as canoe lovers from abroad, built for Piailug a Hawaiian-style canoe, the 56-foot, double-hulled, single-masted Alingano Maisu.

Piailug is ailing and unlikely to be able to undertake long voyages. His son, Sesario, is aboard Alingano Maisu.

Hawaiian navigators aboard the two canoes have alternated in serving as the lead navigators on the voyage thus far, using entirely noninstrument techniques.

Asked who would be the lead navigator as the canoe approaches Satawal, Thompson didn't hesitate.

"It would be up to the leadership," he said, "but in my mind, it should be Sesario."

Sesario, like Thompson, Bertelmann and others, was trained in noninstrument navigation by the man many call "Papa Mau."

Reach Jan TenBruggencate at jant@honoluluadvertiser.com.