Voyaging canoe Hokule'a and escort motorsailer Kama Hele were scheduled to arrive at Oshima Island in Japan's Yamaguchi Prefecture late last night after a day-long passage yesterday from Fukuoka.

The canoe left Fukuoka about 3 a.m. yesterday with crew members in a somber mood, having learned Thursday of the death of Hokule'a's first voyaging captain, Kawika Kapahulehua. Kapahulehua, whose nephew Mona Shintani is aboard the canoe in Japan, skippered the Hokule'a on its first Hawai'i-Tahiti voyage in 1976.

"It is a solemn time and we will be honoring Kawika's contributions," said current captain Chad Baybayan. Kapahulehua, a native of Ni'ihau, was fluent in Hawaiian, and Baybayan said the canoe will hold a memorial prayer service entirely in the Hawaiian language, in his honor.

Baybayan, speaking by satellite phone late Thursday, said the weather appeared favorable for yesterday's passage. The trickiest part of that passage was the scheduled tow through the half-mile-wide Kanmon Strait, where currents can exceed 5 mph. Baybayan said the canoe timed its departure from Fukuoka to arrive at the strait between tides, so there would be as little current as possible. The voyage from Fukuoka to Oshima was estimated at 170 miles.

Oshima has a museum dedicated to Japanese emigrants to Hawai'i. The prefecture of Yamaguchi is one of the major sources of emigration to Hawai'i from Japan.

The canoe is midway into its goodwill cruise through the islands of Japan. After a scheduled five-day stay at Oshima, Baybayan will turn over the canoe to Polynesian Voyaging Society president Nainoa Thompson, who will skipper the vessel for the remainder of its trip, which includes visits to Hiroshima, Uwajima and Yokohama, arriving early in the second week of June.

Reach Jan TenBruggencate at jant@honoluluadvertiser.com.