Customer Reviews

We, the Navigators: The Ancient Art of Landfinding in the Pacific (Revised)

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This book is written by an academic. I don't necessarily mean this in a negative sense. The author has done a very thorough research on the topic and presented his findings. The effect is a book that can be called a comprehensive treatment as far as it can be done given that the practictioners are disappearing fast.
The downside is that it can send you to sleep as the author systematically compares how the navigational techniques are practiced in the various island groups.

The strength of the book is not only its thoroughness but also the fact that the author is a skilled sailor who has gone on trips using these techniques. This makes the material so much more authentic, because the reader can relate how effective these skills are and yet how much practice they require.

The author provides commentary on many practices and relates them to our modern day knowledge. An example was their ability to recognize the impact of sub surface currents, something that is today a rather specialist piece of knowledge not available to the everyday sailor.

"We, The Navigators" is one of the first books written about polynesian navigation over great distances without benefit of any instruments except the senses of the navigators. The polynesians steered by the stars, sun, swell patterns, wind, birds, clouds, phosphorescence in the sea. "The Navigators" began training as soon as they were weened and had to memorize thousands of factors to enable then to reach islands that their ancestors had been traveling to for generations. This book is a great source for both scholars and sailors. However; be warned that if you don't have some knowledge of sailing and navigation you may not fully appreciate "We, the Navigators"

A triumph! Lewis's "hands-on" investigation of ancient
sailing tchniques in the Pacific now includes a description of a
renaissance in celestial navigation in Polynesia. The old way, the way
of passing on knowledge of sighting stars and zenith stars, is once
again being passed on from one generation to another.

The most complete study of early navigation I have come across. The author does a fantastic job of comparing the different styles of landfinding as used by the Pacific islanders. Lewis brings the knowledge and experience of an accomplished western sailor and navigator to his studies, and in doing so is able compare and contrast ancient and modern techniques. A scholarly study of primitive navigation, the book is not always an easy read, however for the reader looking for a complete comparison this is the volume to have.

David Lewis has zig-zaged the Pacific in modern yachts and traditional canoes. His broad experience and long resarch, using his own and many schoolars data, has made this a good analysis and documentation of the extremly impressing and interesting phenomenon of ancient and present voyaging in the Pacific. Others, specially anthropologists fieldworking in the Central Carolines of Micronesia, had written about the presently used Micronesian voyaging system, others less throughly about the forgotten polynesian,but Lewis mangage to give a synthesis of the technologies and some of the social aspects of traditional voyaging in the Pacific

I was a Naval Officer for 22 years. 5 years of that time was spent as a Navigator on two different submarines. I was fascinated by the way the Polynesians can find their way over hundreds of miles of open ocean with no instruments. As David Lewis observes, "It's amazing how much you notice when your life depends on it."

The "ancient art" in the title is a misnomer. They still have Navigators in Hawaii and they continue to both practice their skills themselves and teach their children. See the YouTube postings of Ed Kaiwi for more information about Hawaiian lore.

.. this book tells you how the stone age polynesians navigated in the vast Pacific. The reseach is immaculate: Mr. Lewis found the last indigenous navigators, learned their techniques and sailed with them. This book is almost the sole document of the greatest navigators in history, and so wonderfully written that you forget it is a scientific work

In the 1960s David Lewis sailed with his family from North America to New Zealand via the Magellan Straits and Pacific Ocean in a 40' catamaran. Later he spent more time in the Pacific Ocean and later still he sailed down to the Antarctic single handed: as such he is well placed to study the traditional navigation methods of Oceania. This book brings to life the cross cultural connection between mariners and has the reader itching to learn more - provided the reader is themselves a seafarer. We find ourselves utterly in awe of the knowledge and feats of the navigators but I am not sure how much appeal this book would have for landlubbers who have never experienced the phenomena he so comprehensively describes. All in all a scholarly and sensitive work. Vale David - wishing you a fair wind and a star (or rather, succession of stars) to steer her by!

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!

Serendipity for those who enjoy reading how others solved sailing navigational problems long before latitude and longitude and GPS. The book is a rediscovery of many of the lost south seas navigational skills.