Typhoon Kong-Rey, gaining strength as it crossed the Northern Marianas yesterday, is just what Hokule'a navigator Nainoa Thompson was hoping to miss by getting to the Western Pacific as quickly as possible this year.

There is a great deal of open ocean and no harbor of refuge for a canoe on a crossing from Yap to Okinawa, which Hokule'a is scheduled to make within the next week or two.

Thompson last month said he already regretted an almost two-week delay of the departure from Hawai'i of Hokule'a and Alingano Maisu, along with escort boat Kama Hele. The delays were due to weather and readiness issues, as well as several days for the repair of a broken steering sweep.

The delays not only forced the voyage to miss islands, but to cut short visits as navigators tried to make up time.

Hokule'a, Alingano Maisu and Kama Hele are safe from Typhoon Kong-Rey at the Koror harbor in Palau, nearly 1,000 miles south of the storm's center. But some time in the next week or two, Hokule'a and Kama Hele need to make a 1,400-mile, two-week dash northward across the Philippine Sea to Okinawa. The early presence of a typhoon doesn't bode well.

Kong-Rey started as an area of low pressure last week Monday and was designated a tropical storm Saturday. By yesterday, it had achieved typhoon strength — the Western Pacific equivalent of hurricane strength. It had winds of 85 mph, and much of the Northern Marianas was under a typhoon warning as it passed from southeast to northwest across the chain yesterday. The island of Agrihan was warned to prepare for typhoon-force winds of 74 mph or more during the night last night.

It is the first tropical cyclone of the year in the region, and Thompson earlier in this voyage said the frequency of storm occurrence will increase as summer nears. On average, there is an eightfold increase in the likelihood of typhoons in April compared with February.

The canoes expect to stay in Palau for two or three more days before sailing back to Yap. There, Hokule'a will tie up in the safety of the island's harbor, and navigators will carefully watch weather conditions for a window of opportunity — a window clear of any signs of storm formation.

But the boats will take two weeks on their crossing, and the example of Kong-Rey shows a tropical cyclone can move into those waters at typhoon strength after only a week of first being detected. There is a great deal of open ocean and no harbor of refuge for a canoe on a crossing from Yap to Okinawa.

Reach Jan TenBruggencate at jant@honoluluadvertiser.com.