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NEW YORK CITY��— Forecasts of thunderstorms, a strong current and large ships in the Hudson River couldn’t stop the Hokulea from arriving in lower Manhattan this weekend as planned.

But it did force the crew of the double-hulled sailing canoe to sail in Saturday, some 16 hours earlier than scheduled.

Hokulea may have been constructed with the help of modern materials such as fiberglass hulls, synthetic lashings and canvas sails.

But it operates only by the grace of the wind, with guidance from the stars and by the wisdom of its captains — just like the ancient Hawaiians who sailed similar canoes many hundreds of years ago.

“It’s been a long journey,” Nainoa Thompson, the Hokulea’s master traditional navigator, said at a welcoming ceremony Sunday morning. “We want to be grateful and thankful and respectful to all of you who came to be here with us in the rain and the lightning and thunder.”

The trip to New York City was a short one for Hokulea, which earlier had docked some 15 miles away in��Jamaica Bay. Hokulea is on a much longer voyage, however, one in which so far the vessel has traversed 23,000 nautical miles, landed in 12 countries and docked in 55 ports.

By June 2017, when it finally arrives back in Hawaii (it launched in May 2014), the Malama Honua Worldwide Voyage is expected to have covered more than 60,000 nautical miles, 27 nations and some 100 ports, including 12 that are part of of UNESCO’s World Heritage Marine sites.

On Sunday, a blanket of gray clouds descended so thick and low that they obscured the top of the 1,776-foot World Trade Center, only blocks from North Cove Marina. Still, hundreds of people braved the inclement conditions to celebrate the latest port of call of a “lei of hope” Hokulea is weaving around the world.

The trip is supported by .

The First Natives

The audience, most of it protected beneath a large white tent erected dockside, welcomed the rain as a blessing. But at times the downpour was a river.

“Some of us are from Hilo, so, ‘What, rain?’” joked Kimo Gerald, a Big Island native who recently retired as house manager of Carnegie Hall. “But this rain gives Hilo a run for its money.”

Gerald is a member of , a community network that helps Hawaiians organize and keep connected. It partnered with the to welcome the Hokulea to New York City.

Leading the welcome were area descendants of the continent’s first human inhabitants: members of tribal groups including the Ramapough Lenape, Unkechaug,��Mohegan, Shinnecock, Haudenosaunee and Delaware Nation at Moraviantown.

Many of the tribal members wore traditional garb, and they offered words and songs of welcome in English and their native tongues.

“Welcome to our territory,” said Henry B. Wallace, chief of the Unkechaug. “We may not possess it, but we still own it.”

That line, with a nod to the colonization and dispossession suffered by both Native Hawaiians and Native Americans, was received with cheers and applause.

Before the ceremony, three native groups paddled to the Hokulea, which was tied up at the marina’s dock. They exchanged gifts with the crew and burned sage as part of a purification ceremony.

Later, tribal leaders and Hawaiian speakers both emphasized the shared values of their peoples, in particular a reverence for nature’s power and the importance of cultural preservation and perpetuation.

The Hokulea offers a vital example of such perpetuation. Its origin dates to the mid 1970s, when artist had a vision of building a double-hulled waa, or canoe. That led to the founding of the Polynesian Voyaging Society and the launching of Hokulea in 1975.

‘Eddie Would Go’

The canoe, which is 62 feet long and 21 feet wide, can crew up to 14. Its name means “star of gladness.” That refers to Arcturus, the brightest star in the Northern celestial hemisphere and the one that marks the latitude of Hawaii when the star is at its highest.

The Hokulea’s founding arose during a local renaissance period that saw the revival of Hawaiian language, hula and other cultural practices. But it has been marked by significant ups and downs.

In 1976, the ship successfully sailed along an ancient route of Polynesian migration between Hawaii and Tahiti. But in 1978 Hokulea capsized off Lanai, a tragedy that led to lifeguard Eddie Aikau venturing from the canoe on surfboard for help, never to be seen again.

Aikau, whose family was represented at the Manhattan ceremony and whose name lives on in the big surf contest on Oahu’s North Shore, was remembered by Nainoa Thompson on Sunday as “the greatest waterman I have known on Earth.”

Thompson, president of the Polynesian Voyaging Society, in 1980 became the first Native Hawaiian since the 14th century to use traditional wayfaring ways to travel to Tahiti. The skills had been lost to Hawaiians, but were recalled with the help of Micronesian navigators such as Mau Piailug.

The mission of Hokulea, according to the voyaging society, is to engage “all of Island Earth — practicing how to live sustainably while sharing Polynesian culture, learning from the past and from each other, creating global relationships and discovering the wonders of the precious place we call home.”

The society estimates that the crew thus far has connected with more than 45,000 people in communities across the South Pacific, Tasman Sea, Indian Ocean and Atlantic Ocean. They include the countries of Samoa, New Zealand, Australia, Indonesia, Mauritius, South Africa, Brazil, the U.S. Virgin Islands and Cuba.

Message In A Bottle

Last week, Hokulea departed Washington, D.C., en route to New York. The crew had to lower both masts so the vessel could clear low bridges.

During the week in D.C., the crew also honored Native American tribes. A ceremony at the Washington Canoe Club was attended by White House officials and members of Hawaii’s congressional delegation.

A message in a bottle on behalf of Secretary of State John Kerry was presented to be carried by Hokulea’s crew to present during the United Nations for World Oceans Day this Wednesday.

Among the hundreds of people from the islands who traveled to New York for Sunday’s ceremony were all four county mayors, state Sen. Kai Kahele and Honolulu City Council member Ikaika Anderson.

Honolulu Mayor Kirk Caldwell noted that it was from Oahu that Hokulea first departed. He brought an hookupu (offering) for the crew that include sand from Kualoa, paikai (Hawaiian salt) from Laie and water from a kanawai (a refuge for plants and people) from Manoa Valley, where Caldwell lives.

“Whether we are Hawaiian or not, it makes us all feel proud as a people,” he said.

Meantime, Big Island Mayor Billy Kenoi was on Hokulea as it arrived in New York, pressing the flesh and flashing grins with the crew. Also on board was University of Hawaii President David Lassner.

Why did Lassner, who has limited sailing skills, accept the chance to help crew the boat for three weeks?

“Who wouldn’t?” he said, obviously delighted with the experience.

Others on hand were entrepreneur Henk Rogers, the artist Wyland, businessman Mitch D’Olier and Mike McCartney, chief of staff to Gov. David Ige. (“The governor’s navigator,” said Thompson.)

Hokulea’s voyage has received lots of press, which over the weekend included ��by Naka Nathaniel in Nicholas Kristof’s New York Times blog.

“These aren’t great times for indigenous peoples,” Nathaniel wrote. “When they get noticed at all, it’s often because of poverty or alcoholism or health crises.”

It ran at the same time the Times featured ��about Honolulu, “Aloha and Welcome to Paradise. Unless You’re Homeless.”

Against such an unfortunate backdrop, wrote Nathaniel, “we have a dollop of inspiration” in the Hokulea.

The positive attention the Hokulea brings can only be good for Hawaii’s top industry, said officials.

“Absolutely, this is huge for us,” said George Szigeti, CEO of the , the state’s visitor industry arm. “We honor everything to do with the culture, the people, the traditions of the people of Hawaii. This separates us from every destination in the world, why they come to Hawaii year after year after year.”

It was a celebration of indigenous peoples that was at the center of Sunday’s festivities. Halau danced barefoot in the puddles of cold water that pooled on the stone pathway lining the harbor, drawing the curiosity of joggers, parents with strollers and dogs.

“With humility and respect, we are here on your shores,” said Manu Boyd, a kumu hula who handled emcee duties.

Thompson told the audience that the voyage had not been easy, and that it relied on the help of countless people. What has given strength to his crew, he said, is the belief that what the Hokulea is doing is not just for Hawaiians today but for “the children not born.”

It is up to those future generations, he said, to ensure that Hawaiians never again risk losing what is at the core of their culture.

“This voyage was not planned eight years ago,” he said. “This voyage was planned 2,000 years ago, in the stories and the strength of who we are as a native people.”

The morning ceremonies closed, fittingly, with a stirring performance of “Hokulea, Star of Gladness,” the song made famous by Israel Kamakawiwoole: