The voyaging canoe Hokule'a was to have arrived at Fukuoka, Japan, late yesterday afternoon Hawai'i time, after a daylong passage that left Nagasaki about 4 a.m. yesterday.

Captain and navigator Chad Baybayan, speaking by satellite phone at midday yesterday, said the canoe was under tow in light winds by a boat provided by the Yanmar company. Escort boat Kama Hele was motoring behind, and all were moving at about 9 mph.

"We took off just behind one front, and this allows us to get to Fukuoka before the next one passes through," Baybayan said.

Baybayan said that if Kama Hele were doing the towing, progress would be slower, and the canoe might not be able to make the passage during daylight.

Because of heavy traffic in the waters around Japan, the crew is attempting to avoid overnight passages, he said.

Despite the early departure from Nagasaki, roughly 60 people arrived at the dock before Hokule'a cast off its mooring lines, he said.

Fukuoka, a sister city to Honolulu, is expected to be the site of significant ceremonies.

Baybayan said that reception to the canoe has been building with each new city it visits. At Kumamoto, several hundred schoolchildren did a dockside performance for the canoe, and the mayor honored Hawai'i by flying the Hawaiian flag above both the Japanese and U.S. flags.

"It's kind of overwhelming. It's progressive. We're getting more people coming out at each of the ports," he said.

The canoe's crew keeps an active schedule, welcoming schoolchildren and others during the day for tours of the vessel, as well as going out into the community to give presentations about the voyaging canoe and its mission.

"It's going to be the kind of trip where some guys get left behind to finish up our educational responsibilities, and they use land transportation to catch up with the canoe," Baybayan said. "We're actually going to be sending some guys back to Nagasaki to talk to groups."

The canoe crew is also carrying out its regular calls to classrooms throughout Hawai'i, making satellite telephone calls often late at night to overcome the time difference between Japan and Hawai'i.

"Often, we're calling at 2 or 3 a.m.," Baybayan said.

The canoe, which left Nagasaki with 14 crew members, will undergo a major crew change at Fukuoka. Baybayan will return to Hawai'i, and Polynesian Voyaging Society president Nainoa Thompson will rejoin the vessel as captain and navigator for the final major stops on the Japan trip, Oshima, Hiroshima, Uwajima and Yokohama.

Reach Jan TenBruggencate at jant@honoluluadvertiser.com.