HOW DID THE AUSTRONESIANS NAVIGATE ACROSS OCEANS?

Captain James Cook was probably the first person who went on record to wonder: "How did these people get here (on these remote Pacific Islands) without using sextant, compass or maps?" So imagine yourself going out to sea with no maps or compass: how would you find your way across a trackless ocean?

The answers came after much research and actual voyaging experiences, particularly David Lewis who wrote the authoritative coverage of the subject in "We the Navigators: The Ancient Art of Landfinding in the Pacific", which is still available. Much research has been carried out by Pacific Island people themselves, anxious to avoid the loss of these ancient skills. The Polynesian Voyaging Society is one such organisation, as well as many individuals.

David Lewis sailed with navigators who used the age old methods of finding one's way across empty oceans, and describes how during the day, voyagers used the ocean swells that are driven by constant trade winds to maintain their sailing course. Knowing where the trade winds blew and at what times of the year enabled the old navigators to know which way the ocean swells would be driven by the trade winds.

Sunrise was the most important time of day, for that told you where east was. You then looked at the ocean swells to see in what direction you had to cross the ocean swells to keep heading to the east. One may have to tack back and forth across the swells in some situations in order to keep on a course.

At night the navigators would note where the sun set in the west, and then look for a star rising in the east, and follow that star if they wanted to head east for example. The true navigators actually remembered what the stars looked like at home before venturing to sea, then noted the star patterns when they got to their destination. They would also note the star configurations along the way, so would be able to know if they were on the right course on future voyages. Remarkable stuff!

But on dark cloudy nights of course they would have to rely on the ocean swells to maintain their course until sunrise. There is a good detailed coverage of this subject from actual experience by  Nainoa Thompson, go to : Non- Instrument Navigation

The ancient navigators made stick charts to record the course they had taken on a voyage. These stick charts showed wind and swell directions and any islands in the area covered. Here is a photo of such a chart:

The old navigators could also tell when they were nearing land, from reading the changes in wave patterns, for they knew that the constant ocean swells "bounced" off islands and went off in a different direction. Part of their skills was to detect changes in the swells and waves were behaving, and this was one of their clues about unseen land ahead.

This has been merely a quick look at this fascinating subject, and it hopefully gives some idea on how the Stone Age Austronesian people found their way into all corners of the Pacific Ocean, some 4000 years ago.