Celestial Navigation: The Eyes of the Canoe

In some corners of the world, the old art form of celestial navigation is enjoying a starlit revival.

The story of celestial navigation begins many thousands of years ago when man first set out to explore the world by water. Polynesians were some of the earliest wayfarers, although their largely oral culture means there is little written record of their achievements as skilled navigators. What we do know is that around 5,000 years ago, they began progressing across the Tropics, migrating southeast, moving from island to island. “I haere mai tatou I tawhiti – We come from far away,” wrote master storyteller Witi Ihimaera in his book Navigating the Stars.

Celestial navigation is the art of using measurements between celestial bodies – the sun, moon, planets, and stars – and the horizon to establish your position. This is usually achieved in conjunction with practical tools such as a sextant, as well as a keen awareness of the surroundings.

The perimeter of the oceanic homeland where early Polynesians settled was triangular, with three island groups making up each corner. Often known as the ‘Polynesian Triangle’, it includes Hawai’i in the north, Rapa Nui (Easter Island) in the east, and Aotearoa (New Zealand) in the far southwest.

“Within this triangle were over 1,000 islands, including Fiji, Samoa, Tonga, Rarotonga, and Niue,” says Ihimaera. Little wonder that the ocean, and navigating around it, was so important.

The Polynesian Triangle is a crucial part of the story. It is central to modern efforts to reclaim the celestial navigation talents of those ocean-going ancestors whose skills were honed and passed down through generations. Following European colonization of Polynesia, traditional voyaging and celestial navigation sharply declined and these skills fell out of use. At one point, the practice was in such decline that there were many who didn’t believe it was even possible for the early settlers to have sailed the longer distances between key points of the Triangle. 

Recent years have seen a renaissance in the practice of wayfaring. Significant actions include building traditional canoes and undertaking voyages around and between each point of the Triangle. In 1976 HŌKŪLEʻA, a Polynesia ocean-going double hulled canoe, successfully traveled from Hawaii to Tahiti using celestial navigation alone, proving that it was possible to navigate without modern instruments. In 1985 HŌKŪLEʻA then underwent a two-year journey from Hawaii around the Pacific and to New Zealand before returning home. In 1999 HŌKŪLEʻA once again helped close the Triangle by sailing from Hawaii to Easter Island and back. And finally, in 2012, two waka hourua (double-hulled sailing canoes), NGAHIRAKA MAI TAWHITI and TE AURERE, built by the late master waka builder Sir Hekenukumai [Hek] Busby, sailed from New Zealand to Easter Island in an epic four-month journey that covered 4000 nautical miles. 

New Zealander and waka (canoe) master Stanley Conrad was one of the lucky few on the 2012 voyage. “At the beginning of the voyage, setting out and knowing you had to find your own way was daunting, but really it made me feel so proud to be walking in the steps of my ancestors and honoring their achievements,” he says.

In the days of the early wayfarers, the master navigator played a key role in any journey. “Crew on these expeditions have basic knowledge of the sun, skies, courses and duration, but traditionally a canoe would carry one or two trained navigators – the eyes of the canoe – who would work alongside the skipper.”

“For our people, the knowledge of how to navigate was put aside and not practiced, but the genealogy was always there.”

Across Polynesia, work is now being done to preserve and celebrate these old skills. This includes the in-build Kupe Waka Centre in New Zealand’s Northland, which was the brainchild of Sir Hek. “The new center is fulfilling Hek’s wishes that there be a dedicated whare [home] where wayfaring knowledge could be taught and celebrated,” says Conrad. “For our people, the knowledge of how to navigate was put aside and not practiced, but the genealogy was always there and was very much present in carvings, songs, charts and storytelling. What we’ve tried to do with these voyages, and by building the new center, is rebirth that knowledge and take it back on the water.”

So, what place does celestial navigation have onboard superyachts? Although electric charts and navigational tools are the norm, celestial navigation is often used in complement to other navigational methods to ensure accuracy. For those venturing offshore, it is considered an invaluable skill. Several qualification tickets, including the RYA Yachtmaster Ocean, require a paper on celestial navigation to give sailors a solid grounding in the basics of navigating by the skies. 

Training crew in the pure art of sailing is a passion onboard 212-foot ADIX. “We certainly encourage celestial navigation when we are training our team,” says Captain Terry Gould. “The lovely thing about stars is that they give you an instant fix on where you are.” The yacht also enjoys making use of paper charts in conjunction with electronic charts for planning and for navigation. “We are very much ‘spirit of tradition’ on board ADIX.” To make your own start in celestial navigation, simply look to the North Star, which sits above the North Pole and is an unmovable reference point towards true north. While surrendering a superyacht to celestial navigation alone is an unlikely prospect, superyacht owners will certainly understand the call to explore the world by water, even if superyachts feel a world away from the humble seafaring canoe.

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