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An Experiment in Polynesian Navigation

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  18 January 2010

David Lewis
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Extract

Dr. David Lewis, after completing the single-handed transatlantic race in 1964, sailed his catamaran Rehu-Moana through the Magellan Strait to Valparaiso and on to Easter Island and Tahiti. From Tahiti he sailed to New Zealand.

In an earlier paper published in the Journal (17, 278) Dr. Lewis reviewed the background to and evidence for various theories about early Polynesian navigation. One of his conclusions was that they must have been able to determine both course and, in effect, latitude with sufficient accuracy to make a landfall within the area of known groups of islands and so to proceed to any intended destination. This paper aroused considerable interest and was the subject of numerous contributions to the Journal, in particular from Andrew Sharp (18, 244) and Brett Hilder (18, 246).

In a series of communications written on board during the voyage to Tahiti, Dr. Lewis discusses the objections raised to some of his hypotheses. These cannot be dealt with here. On the voyage from Tahiti to New Zealand, via the Cook Islands, however, Dr. Lewis attempted to demonstrate, by navigating without instruments, that the methods used by the ancient Maoris were sufficiently accurate to make the voyages attributed to them navigationally feasible. It is this voyage that is related here.

Information

Type
Research Article
Information
The Journal of Navigation , Volume 19 , Issue 2 , April 1966, pp. 154 - 168
Copyright
Copyright © The Royal Institute of Navigation 1966

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References

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