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It’s the Hoki Mai Challenge, which started Saturday in Rapa Nui, a territory in the Pacific that is part of Chile and is better known as Easter Island.

“It won’t be easy,” said Gilles Bordes, coordinator of Hoki Mai.

On training days, they often started before dawn to get accustomed to the darkness they will face during much of the Hoki Mai.

A bigger statue — carved by a local artisan for Hoki Mai — will be taken to Motu Motiro Hiva in March.

Several days before the trip, the canoe built for Hoki Mai was blessed with a “umu”, which involves cooking underground with hot stones in a sacred ceremony.