The boat of the sun is characterized by 3+3 = 6 marks, signifying the six doublemonths in a year. The sign for the Pleiades shows 6 stones = stars:

When we combine the boat of the sun with the sign for the Pleiades, that becomes a glyph signifying that half of the year when the Pleiades is visible, Matariki i nika.

We could also read the three mata joined to the boat of the sun as its sails, a rebus telling us Sun (Ra) by way of ra = sail.