Navigating without instruments – introduction

The 2012–2013 voyage of the Waka Tapu closed the Polynesian triangle. This confirmed that it is possible to successfully and deliberately travel great distances by canoe while navigating without instruments.

In these articles, navigator Jack Thatcher describes his waka hourua voyage from New Zealand to Rapanui (Easter Island) and back. Waka voyages had already traversed the Pacific from New Zealand to the northern and central areas of Polynesia, but it was this journey to the east and back that completed the triangle.

Navigating without instruments

Modern navigation is heavily reliant upon technology. Jack and his crew used traditional techniques to navigate the Waka Tapu. Traditional wayfinding involves observing and understanding nature.

Astronomical techniques involve knowledge of the night sky and are described in these articles:

• The star compass (kāpehu whetū) uses cardinal directions and 220 stars to show where stars will rise and set on the celestial equator.
• The celestial sphere uses reference points like the horizon, the zenith and stars’ altitude to determine direction.
• Navigating with Sun, Moon and planet looks at how the rising and setting of the Sun and Moon and recognisable planets are useful for wayfinding.

Closer to home, navigators use these navigation aids:

• Ocean swells, which are regular and stable waves that can be felt as well as seen.
• Cloud formations that help navigators predict weather while out at sea.
• Biological factors such as vegetation and seabird behaviour that indicate the proximity and direction of land even when it is not visible.

Reviving an ancient art

There has been renewed interest in the ancient art of wayfinding over the last 30–40 years. Read about the history and adventure behind this fascinating rediscovery with the articles Wayfinding revival and Waka revival, then learn about the modern construction and crewing of waka hourua.

Take up the challenge

Related student activities involve legends, compass skills and cloud observation:

• Constellations in the night sky looks at star legends from cultures around the world.
• Kupe and modern voyaging uses the legend of Kupe to compare ancient and modern navigation techniques.
• How’s your memory? involves the memorisation of the star compass components – just like the real navigators.
• Navigating by the stars introduces students to traditional navigational skills – using the cardinal directions and the Southern Cross.
• Compass treasure hunt uses knowledge of the Sun and Moon to make compass directions and uses these directions in a treasure hunt.
• Clouds and the weather observes cloud types and how they help predict the weather.

Cross-curricular learning activities

Puzzling out Pacific migrations is a ready-to-use cross-curricular teaching resource. It uses the Connected article The long pause as the starting point.