One of the navigators on board the Waka Tapu expedition heading to Rapanui or Easter Island says it is now sailing into head winds.
Two double-hulled canoes Te Aurere and Ngahiraka Mai Tawhiti left Mangareva in French Polynesia last week, their last stop before they paddle another 1400 kilometres before they reach their destination.
Waka Tapu is retracing the ancient voyages of their Pacific ancestors and completing the last leg of the Polynesian triangle.
Navigator Jack Thatcher says his crew is battling easterly winds.
He says as the waka sailed past Pitcairn Island they spoke over the radio to an islander who gave them weather updates.
Mr Thatcher says even way out in the middle of nowhere local people are doing all they can to help, and the crew is still eating fish given to them by Mangareva residents at their last stop.
They have just under 1000 kilometres to go before they arrive in Rapanui.
