June 16th, 2017: Hōkūleʻa

[xoxoxoBruce]

Today. To Hawaii. Hōkūleʻa. From a three voyage around the world, during which it sailed five oceans, visited 19 countries
and sailed more than 40,000 nautical miles. This in a 62 ft(18.9m) Polynesian ocean sailing canoe, using ancient navigational
techniques the Europeans didn’t understand or believe existed.

The latest round-the-world voyage, called “Mālama Honua” (which in Hawaiian means “to care for our island Earth”) aims
especially to focus public attention on the worsening plight of the world’s oceans.
Thompson says he has seen big changes in the sea since he started voyaging in the 1970s. Nowadays when the crew fishes
to supplement their diet, the catch is meager. “We recently sailed 1,100 [kilometers] from Mauritius to Madagascar
without catching a single fish,” he says. “Fully 90 percent of the edible fish have already been taken out of the seas.”

The Polynesian boat has been refined over millennia, as has the art of “wayfinding” used to make their way from island
to island. Memorizing dozens if not hundreds of stars, land birds and their habits/ranges, different types of waves peculiar
to sections of the ocean, how each island reflects/radiates waves, and much, much more.
Pretty impressive for dumb brown people, eh?



Much, much more at the link.