A brotherhood of experts
trained to acute powers of observation and memory, Polynesian navigators were
also priests responsible for conducting the rituals of their profession and
invoking spiritual help. Whereas the modern navigator is equipped to fix his
position without reference to his place of departure, the Polynesian used a
system that was home-oriented. He kept a mental record of all courses steered
and all phenomena affecting the movement of the canoe, tracing these backwards
in his mind so that at any time he could point in the approximate direction of
his home island and estimate the sailing time required to reach it—a
complex feat of dead reckoning. This required careful attention. It also meant
insufficient sleep. It's been said that the navigator could always be
distinguished among his companions on a canoe by his bloodshot eyes.
Page 21, Ancient Hawaii
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Link to mini-tour of Old Hawaii