With Cyclone Pam approaching after laying waste to Vanuatu three days earlier, crews of the Polynesian voyaging canoes Hokule’a and Hikianalia spent the weekend making sure both vessels are protected at their current stop in New Zealand.

Captain and navigator Kalepa Baybayan confirmed that the canoes have been secured with extra docking line at the Maritime Museum in Auckland Harbor. The vessels are tied to floating docks that rise with the tide.

The crew canceled scheduled activities on Sunday and Monday to monitor the storm.

In an email to the Star-Advertiser, Baybayan said both vessels and crew are as safe as possible.

"The only problematic issue is the lunar tides combined with the storm’s effect," Baybayan wrote. "We cannot predict what they will do. We will monitor the situation as the tropical cyclone progresses."

The crew is in New Zealand preparing to undertake the next leg of the ambitious Malama Honua Worldwide Voyage, which is scheduled to reach Indonesia, Madagascar, Mozambique and South Africa later this year.