NavList:
A Community Devoted to the Preservation and Practice of Celestial Navigation and Other Methods of Traditional Wayfinding
Re: Polynesian canoes set off from New Zealand to Raiatea (French Polynesia)
From: Peter Fogg
Date: 2010 May 8, 06:01 +1000
From: Peter Fogg
Date: 2010 May 8, 06:01 +1000
According to George:
But how do you propose that these "claims could have been tested more rigorously", George? It seems to me that Lewis was in a similar position to most if not all occidental sailors; that is he was doing as best he could to learn and understand, and then to report on what he discovered about the subject.
May I make so bold as to remind you that some more testing is taking place right now, in craft not altogether "completely different" to traditional double-hulled sailing canoes, which is how this thread got started ...
Lewis was a fine navigator, and an adventurous one, who could tell a good
story. He was as well-qualified as any Western navigator to investigate the
mysteries of Polynesian navigation. However, fantasies have been woven
about that subject ever since the days af Cook and Tupia. In my own
opinion, Lewis could have been somewhat more sceptical, and the
navigational claims could have been tested more rigorously.
But how do you propose that these "claims could have been tested more rigorously", George? It seems to me that Lewis was in a similar position to most if not all occidental sailors; that is he was doing as best he could to learn and understand, and then to report on what he discovered about the subject.
May I make so bold as to remind you that some more testing is taking place right now, in craft not altogether "completely different" to traditional double-hulled sailing canoes, which is how this thread got started ...
