Book Review: We the Navigators - The Ancient Art of Landfinding in the Pacific

I'm about halfway through this one and enjoying it immensely, although I don't know that I would recommend it to most. David Lewis is the author, and he turns out to be quite a prolific writer, mostly covering things Polynesian.

Born on some island off the coast of France, Mr. Lewis was raised in New Zealand and Rarotonga, where he attended a Polynesian school. He later studied to become a doctor and after many years practicing medicine, including some involvement of the establishment of the British National Health Service, he set off to circumnavigate the world in a sailboat and then into a second career as a sailor. He built his own catamaran and completed the first recorded circumnav of the world in a multihull.

Maybe you all know these things, but he's new to me and most interesting for his disciplined study of Polynesian navigation methods. I was fascinated by the concept of navigating without instruments and have always wanted to know more about how the Pacific Islanders moved about and established themselves in such an enormous expanse of open ocean with no modern navigation tools.

This book does an excellent job (so far) of detailing how the indigenous sailors of the Pacific use only the things they can see to determine where to find land.

With tribal knowledge passed on through rote learning, the subjects of Dr. Lewis's study seem to be able to establish their location by stars and sun position and then maintain course through periods of cloud cover by orienting themselves to the running ocean swells. Coupled with the detailed drawings and explanations of the primitive sailing vessels they piloted, the scientific research approach to understanding the navigation methods is turning into quite a page-turner for me.

If my life was not so much on the go these days, I'd love to write more of these reviews. I've got a stack of about twenty books lined up to read, many of a similar sort as this one. And I've got another twenty that I've read in the past nine months that have mostly been recaps of sailors trips around the world.

Thanks T-man.

Addendum: Some Older Reviews
A Family Cruise
A Family Cruise Gone Horribly Awry - NOT a light read

RKJ Day

Sir Robin Knox-Johnston became the first person to sail around the world non-stop and single-handed forty years ago today, April 22, 1969 when he crossed that finish line in Falmouth, UK, completing the Golden Globe Yacht race.

Today is Robin Knox-Johnston Day on the Web.

Earth Day, Sea Day, it's all good.

The Search Continues

I think the man of the dock of O has the right idea. I've been looking at some of these coastal cruisers, with their fancy wine racks, down at the yacht broker's docks, and they just don't seem to be working out. The Dread Pirate O recommended a nice looking older boat up in Washington. I think we are going to look more heavily in the Bay and Seattle/Canada, rather than around here.

It seems like we might be able to find something more suited to our current/future needs in the larger markets. It also seems we might be able to avoid dealing with a yacht broker, which, so far, doesn't seem to be a very satisfying experience.

We've made a couple of offers on boats and it has felt like we were serving their needs as foil, rather than them serving our needs with a little more transparent communication about the process. This last one was sorta odd and unsatisfying, although test sailing the boat was great.

Warning: Political Rant

I just got my notice that my Oregon driver's license renewal is up and this time around I'm required to bring a sheaf of documentation with me to prove I'm an American citizen, living in Oregon, born on the date I claim, and equipped with the proper income-reporting documentation.

I've had an Oregon dl for 29 years and now I have to jump through this ridiculous set of hoops for what reason? To stop terrorists from legally driving cars in Oregon? To stop non-taxpayers from legally driving cars in Oregon? To stop Oregonians living in Idaho from driving cars in Oregon legally? To stop non-citizens from driving cars legally in Oregon?

Or is it more about some right-wing, protectionist nutjob attempting to put the kibosh on immigrants receiving driver's licenses in Oregon?

The upshot of all of this is that rather than mailing in my thirty-nine bucks every eight years and renewing, I now have to go stand in line at the epitome of bureaucracy to get a new picture taken and stand by while I'm approved as a taxpayer, Oregon resident, and properly documented citizen. To get into that line I'll now be putting myself on the road with a higher risk of driving amongst uninsured, unlicensed drivers.

I won't be proving that I know the proper stopping distance for pedestrians.

I won't be proving that I understand the new bicycle boxes at downtown intersections.

I won't be proving that I know the proper following distance, or when and how to use my turn indicators.

What happens if Oregon only requires you to show up and take a test and prove state residency, as they had done for the past 29 years of my driving experience? I think what happens is that we end up with a bunch of people driving cars in Oregon who live here and passed the same test as everyone else to get their license to drive cars in Oregon.

We put ourselves at less risk. If we were to do that, I'd be driving with a bunch of people who understand the bike boxes, use their turn signals, don't tailgate me in the Terwilliger curves, and flipping yield to me when I'm trying to get across the street with my children on foot.

Damn you, George Bush and all those like you.

Test Sail: Beneteau 323 - We Likey

Almost a beautiful day for sailing. The wind was a healthy 15 knots and out of the South. The only bummer was it started raining toward the end and it was a bit cold.


The smile on Kris's face belies the cold.


Note the professional looking gloves, too.

We liked her a lot. Great wind today and we were able to hold a straight line up the river, turn into the wind follow the same line back downriver, hitting over 7 knots a couple of times on the upriver reach.


Part of Kris's sailing smile is attributable to the saloon table's six-bottle wine holder, which you can see right here in front of her.

The Pirate Blogger

Pirate's sailed around under a fake flag and commandeered the ships they came across. I know a pirate blogger. He doesn't actually have his own blog, but he commenteers on others.

I miss him. Anybody seen him lately?

You know who you are.

Test Sail: Beneteau 323

Kris and I are going to take this little beauty out on Saturday. She's not the world cruiser we expect to head for blue water in, but we are thinking a couple of years of river sailing in something like this, might be the best next step as we build our skills.

I think that future boat is going to be an Island Packet. Those boats really speak to me.

Anyway, this one is affordable for now, in great shape, and possesses the important things that Kris looks for in a boat: built-in wine racks.