Hawaii canoe's worldwide voyage showcases ancient navigation
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}When the voyaging canoe Hokulea leaves Hawaii this month on a three-year global odyssey, its crew will navigate primarily using ancient methods.
To prepare, its navigators will chart a course on a map. Aboard the sailing canoe, they rely only on memory of that course.
Their wayfinding relies on the movement of the sun, the position of stars and a feel for ocean currents.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}The crew constantly gauges their speed to figure distances. Debris floating on the open ocean hints at land. Navigators rely on seabirds to lead them to islands.
Only a few navigators in the world are capable of sailing so precisely across thousands of miles without instruments. To them, their art remains a feat of mental math, applied astronomy, intuition, endurance, mental fortitude and keen observation.