Farley Mowat, in his book which I think is called West Viking or something similar, has appendices on things like how the Vikings navigated. One technique was to release a captive raven. The raven would fly up until it spotted land and then head for it. If the raven headed back home, the mariners knew they were closer to home than any other land. If it headed towards the destination, they steered the raven's course. Fascinating book! Jim Tibensky _________________________________________________________________ Chat with friends online, try MSN Messenger: http://messenger.msn.com *************************************************************************** PaddleWise Paddling Mailing List - Any opinions or suggestions expressed here are solely those of the writer(s). You must assume the entire responsibility for reliance upon them. All postings copyright the author. Submissions: PaddleWise_at_PaddleWise.net Subscriptions: PaddleWise-request_at_PaddleWise.net Website: http://www.paddlewise.net/ ***************************************************************************
Jim wrote, >Farley Mowat, in his book which I think is called >West Viking or something similar, has appendices >on things like how the Vikings navigated. Jackie wrote, >I find the Maori's keen sense of navigation fascinating. >Either that or they are some of the luckiest people in >navigation. Or, a whole bunch didn't make it G'Day Jim, Jackie, Chuck and Patrick, Well I gave up on the inflatable kayak purchase, which leaves plenty to buy all these books with! Thanks for the references, links and reviews, Chuck and Patrick your reviews made it impossible to resist! Re Maori's. maybe all Jackies alternatives contributed. But presumably whether luck or knowledge played the greater part would partly depend on whether Maori's came from the America's or Asia. Thor Heyerdahl's theories aren't widely supported any more and the longest open water distance between Australia and Europe via Asia and/or the South Sea islands is about 100nm (if I read the maps correctly). That last stretch to New Zealand? I don't think any modern paddler has achieved it! But Maori and South Pacific peoples seem to have been solidly built giving them the capacity for long voyages. And Chuck and Patrick's description of the David Lewis book indicates the high level of skill that was available. The temptation to drop everything and try the Australia through Asia voyage is very strong after a week surveying business plans - but I'm a bit skinny for all that - even with a GPS! Nothng would induce me to attempt the Australia to NZ trip (by kayak that is). Talking of Vikings something else I heard was that they would tattoo a pattern (sextant?) on their foreheads for use by the navigator who would get them to stand in from of him. If its true I'm guessing it will be referred to in the West Viking book? All the best, PeterO *************************************************************************** PaddleWise Paddling Mailing List - Any opinions or suggestions expressed here are solely those of the writer(s). You must assume the entire responsibility for reliance upon them. All postings copyright the author. Submissions: PaddleWise_at_PaddleWise.net Subscriptions: PaddleWise-request_at_PaddleWise.net Website: http://www.paddlewise.net/ ***************************************************************************
>Jackie wrote, > >I find the Maori's keen sense of navigation fascinating. > >Either that or they are some of the luckiest people in > >navigation. Or, a whole bunch didn't make it > >[Peter] > Re Maori's. maybe all Jackies alternatives contributed. But > presumably >whether luck or knowledge played the greater part would partly depend on >whether Maori's came from the America's or Asia. No doubt they came from the Cook Island area. > Thor Heyerdahl's theories >aren't widely supported any more and the longest open water distance between >Australia and Europe via Asia and/or the South Sea islands is about 100nm >(if I read the maps correctly). Forget Australia. >That last stretch to New Zealand? I don't >think any modern paddler has achieved it! Paul Caffyn was going to do it but the Australain authorities didn't want hm to. >But Maori and South Pacific >peoples seem to have been solidly built giving them the capacity for long >voyages. Helps a lot. What everyone seems to be forgetting is that if you look up you'll see the planes flying south so something must be there. Air NZ has a godwit on the tail of their planes. In those days the godwit without the jet engines flew south each spring and north again in the autumn. Lots of migrating birds going somewhere for their summer holidays - looks a good place to go, nice beaches and possibly not too many people as was happening at home (too many people) so they sailed south. One story has it that a voyage out of NZ go as far south as the ice. They didn't paddle, they sailed so that helped a bit too. And yes, you don't hear about the ones that didn't make it. Just found a bit in the history of Banks Peninsula by Gordon Ogilvie of 6 Maori out fishing off the coast who got blown out to sea by a nor'wester that sprang up - they blow HARD. So they vanished never to be seen again. However there is a story in the Chatham Islands of 6 Maori who turned up and originated from Banks Peninsula. In those days letters took a long time (100 200 years?) to deliver and no one had taught them to write (oral history) so the two events have only recently been connected. Alex . . *************************************************************************** PaddleWise Paddling Mailing List - Any opinions or suggestions expressed here are solely those of the writer(s). You must assume the entire responsibility for reliance upon them. All postings copyright the author. Submissions: PaddleWise_at_PaddleWise.net Subscriptions: PaddleWise-request_at_PaddleWise.net Website: http://www.paddlewise.net/ ***************************************************************************
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