The eyes of a canoe

“Fix your course on a star and you’ll navigate any storm,” wrote Leonardo Da Vinci. Since the days of the earliest travelers, mankind has looked to the sky as a guide to lead them home. Today, with modern electronic navigational tools, we rely on satellites more than stars. But in some corners of the world, the old art form of celestial navigation is enjoying a starlit revival.

Words Ellie Brade 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 5000 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 1000 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 twoyear 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

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

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.”

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 on board 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 on board 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.

EMPIRE OF THE SUN

Author and ocean mariner Phil Somerville began teaching the MCA Masters Celestial Navigation in 2017, following years of tutoring the UK’s Royal Yachting Association’s Astro Navigation Ocean course. His first book The Practical Guide to Celestial Navigation published in October 2021.

WHERE DID IT ALL BEGIN FOR YOU WITH CELESTIAL NAVIGATION?

In the same way it starts for many others, a requirement to obtain an unlimited license. I also had a distant fascination with the concept of celestial navigation. A part of me didn’t feel like a ‘complete’ mariner, I craved independence from a reliance on GPS.

WHAT IS THE HARDEST ASPECT TO LEARN?

Perhaps the most difficult aspect for superyacht captains is that they must complete the examination without any templates or proformas. This requires an in-depth understanding of the underlying principles.

DO YOU HAVE A FAVORITE STAR?

Yes, our Sun. Everyone associates celestial navigation with star sights, but they have limited windows of opportunity each day. The Sun presents itself as the easiest and most readily available celestial object in our sky.

WHAT IS YOUR MOST MEMORABLE MOMENT WHEN NAVIGATING USING CELESTIAL?

In 2013 I completed a three-week Southern Ocean crossing. Each day I took sights and fixed our position using celestial navigation whilst a crew member made a note of our position from GPS. We experienced very high winds and sea states on the crossing and several days with cloud cover. When comparing positions at the end of the voyage, it could be seen that at one point my plot was over 30 miles out. However, due to the fascinating way in which celestial works, the process selfcorrected and by the time we reached Cape Town, my plot was within three miles – Not bad over a 3,000-mile crossing.

WHAT INSPIRED YOU TO WRITE A BOOK?

I always promised myself if I ever had the time, I’d write my own book. Covid 2020 gave me that opportunity. It’s aimed at those who crave independence from GPS navigation but have little time to invest in learning or keeping their skills current. This book facilitates practical position fixing using the Sun whilst at the same time giving the reader the foundation knowledge to expand their use of other celestial objects in the future should they desire.