P.S. I guess that if the position and movement of stars could be analysed by European seamen trigonometrically, to produce a value for longitude and determine a position around the earths axis; then that pattern of stars could be analysed by a Pacific Islander's brain or a computer to find that position without resorting to trigonometry or the concept of longitude. Nowadays we'd call it something like a neural network analysis, or pattern recognition program or some such! However, maybe it wasn't just the stars. I remember once paddling about 17km out to sea from Newcastle (Australia) with a companion and noticed that he did not carry a compass. Nevertheless he did this paddle regularly. We were out of sight of land and it was sobering to scan a featureless horizon for 360 degrees and realise I would have been lost without a compass. My companion claimed that he steered by the clouds on the horizon! I thought this was incredible, dangerous and ridiculous. I no longer think its ridiculous and can imagine that highly skilled Pacific Islanders, plying their trade in an archipelago and raised all their life to that kind of approach might be able to recognise the currents, wave patterns, and wind patterns between islands as well as using the stars and other clues to find their way around. I'm sure I've read about this somewhere and with luck knowledgeable Paddlewisers could refer me to books on the subject. In deference to the Paddlewise ethos plea se don't take it that I'm advocating anything so dangerous as an appropriate practice unless one was born to it. 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/ ***************************************************************************Received on Wed Jul 28 2010 - 06:19:50 PDT
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