Product Description

This new edition includes a discussion of theories about traditional methods of navigation developed during the past two decades, the story of the renaissance of star navigation throughout the Pacific, and material about navigation systems in Indonesia, Siberia, and the Indian Ocean.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #375826 in Books
• Published on: 1994-01-01
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 468 pages

The Northern Mariner
"Intensely thorough... An exhaustive examination of the pre-European navigational system which should fill any scholar's need... Succeeds admirably."

Geopub Review
"This superb book can be recommended as good literature for both scholar and general reader."

About the Author
David Lewis' navigational research has taken him to Central Australia, throughout Micronesia, from Hawaii to Tahiti on the Hokule'a, through Indonesian waters on traditional prahu, to Manus and New Ireland, and among the Alaskan Eskimos and Siberian Chukchi. In 1972-1974 he made the first single-handed voyage to and from Antarctica. Dr. Lewis has received numerous awards for his navigational achievements, including the Gold Medal of the Royal Institute of Navigation, London.

Customer Reviews

Classic
The best treatment of traditional Pacific navigation practices, written by someone who actually could navigate.

Excellent
This book is well-written, displels a lot of strange myths about native Pacific navigation, and provides a lot of interesting details useful to modern navigators when they run out of batteries in the middle of the ocean.

intriguing and eye-opening!
For most of us, sailing across 2000+ miles of open ocean from Hawaii to Tahiti (or vice versa) would be daunting enough even with using every modern navigation device such as a GPS. Consider that in 1927 with compasses, sextants, radio, etc, in the Dole Air Race from Oakland to Honolulu (the same distance as Tahiti to Hawaii) 3 out of the 5 planes that started out were lost at sea. Then consider that a thousand years ago the Polynesians in 50-foot twin-hulled canoes were regularly making such voyages without any kind of instruments, and that crossing 50 or 100 miles of ocean was thought almost trivially easy.

That a primitive (by European or American standards) people were skilled at ocean navigation was thought absurd. Kon-Tiki was an attempt to show that Oceania could be populated from South America by drifting on rafts and sheer luck of landfall. But it is now established that there was skilled and purposeful exploration and colonization--including Rapa Nui (Easter Island) which is 1000 miles from the nearest other habitable island. We, the Navigators is a fascinating look at "primitive" navigation techniques, and the author himself sailed from Hawaii to Tahiti using only these ancient techniques.

So you'll see how the Polynesians used the sun, moon, and stars to achieve accurate navigation. They also used the ocean swells (as distinct from waves): islands reflect and deflect swells, so by careful observation, you can get a sense of direction to landfall. Land also changes cloud patterns. Birds were watched intently. New Zealand was one of the last places found and peopled--from 1600 miles away from the northeast, perhaps by watching birds migrate in that direction. Different kinds of birds travel different distances from land--some travel 40-50 miles, others 20-25 miles: by observing at dawn where the birds came from, and observing which direction they went towards sunset, and seeing what kind of bird it was, you could tell that there was land, and what direction it was, and how far away it was as well. On leaving land, backsights would be taken to help establish currents and drift. The book has lots of drawings and illustrations--it's a real treat!