Ancient Polynesian Seafarers; A learning journey

[dustman]

With this post it my aim to be exposed to good literature and video on the ancient Polynesian seafarers and their boats.



Please post links to quality books, articles, posts and videos.


Perhaps this can become a good internet resource for others who wish to learn about this. Please keep it clean and on track.



I'll start it off with this documentary published in 1983: https://archive.org/details/thenavigators


Thanks!

[heysteve]

Here’s an interesting recent book: Sea People: The Puzzle of Polynesia https://www.amazon.com/dp/0062060872..._G7ZoEbNT9D2FD

[Tupaia]

What an excellent idea.


We, the Navigators - The Ancient Art of Landfinding in the Pacific, by David Lewis
ISBN 0-8248-1582-3


Vaka Moana - Voyages of the Ancestors

ISBN -13: 978-1-86953-625-1
ISBN -10: 1-86953-625-8

[Don C L]

Oh man there’s a lot, but in your searches check out “butterfly sails.” I believe when they shunt, the boom becomes the mast and vice versa, but I am not sure... my interest is piqued, I’m going to read the article!
“The Vanuatu Butterfly Sail: A Polynesian Oceanic Spritsail in Melanesia” in the journal Asian Perspectives.
What I did not know is that there were two major sailing rig designs, Polynesians’ use of tacking spritsails on catamarans in the east and then shunting proas in the west and the premise here is that butterfly represented a hybrid as a result of contact between the two peoples. But I’ll check back after doing some reading!

[IslandHopper]

The first book i read on the subject....

https://www.amazon.com/We-Navigators...ct_top?ie=UTF8



....and another one i have but have not got around to reading yet, this thread has prompted me to dig it out

https://www.amazon.com/Hawaiki-Risin...s=books&sr=1-1



Polynesian Voyaging Society

Polynesian Voyaging Society

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Polyne...yaging_Society

And a doco on the subject that i am waiting to see...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jiT1v-13mJc

[Don C L]

Check out “drua” and “tepukei “

[carlosproa]

I have several books that have a lot of history on the proas,outriggers, prahu, etc. I have not read them in years but here are some:





I am missing a couple of them, will report back when I find them somewhere in the house

[Island Time O25]

The Last Navigator by Stephen Thomas is a good intro to the subject.

https://starrigging.blogspot.com/p/s...navigator.html

https://www.stevethomashome.com/the-last-navigator

[lk240]

worth a mention here I think.

https://www.amazon.com/Barefoot-Navi...JQ920EZMJ5NECE

[Smokeys Kitchen]

Originally Posted by Island Time O25

The Last Navigator by Stephen Thomas is a good intro to the subject.

https://starrigging.blogspot.com/p/s...navigator.html

https://www.stevethomashome.com/the-last-navigator

+1 for Stephen Thomas's book

He actually went out and practiced the "art" and gives an explanation of the methods and techniques in his book.

[carlosproa]

In any rate - if you want to be "traditional" then Gary Dierken's book will get you as close as it can be without having to fall a tree and create a keel, etc. I truly enjoyed sailing my proa without any rudders, just by how much to sheet in, weight shifting, and moving the appex of the crab claw fore and aft. Once you "Dial In" where you want to go, it is basically balanced and automatic - no need to fiddle with any steering paddles or rudders. One of the proas you may want to see is "Equilibre" in Martinique. It has been a while (1998?) since his first version, and I am not sure if Jeremie still in Martinique - he was building a bigger version of Equilibre, but I lost contact. Here is a link to some of his videos
https://www.youtube.com/watch?reload=9&v=p0YuBC97Vfo


Equilibre - Le prao Pétrel, pirogue à balancier.

If you want something more modern with a marconi rig or a Lug sail, then having steering daggerboards will also dialed you in. In the old proafile group there was a temperamental young guy by the name Todd that had perfected the lug with the steering daggerboards. I cannot find the group anymore

In any rate there is ton of material in the web about proas - it can be addictive.

[redhead]

I have nothing to offer but my thanks! 20 straight days of rain has left my brain moldy - now I get to get out of the doldrums and learn "stuff"

[Jamme]

Hello everyone (I’m new to the forum),
If you have Amazon prime video you may also watch “setting sail”, a 2001 documentary. Episode 1 is specifically on Austronesians and Polynesians.
Fair winds

[dustman]

This is off to a great start! Thanks everyone!

[Apollo366]

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