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David Henry Lewis
David Henry Lewis (1917 – 23 October 2002) was a sailor, adventurer, doctor, and scholar of Polynesian culture. He is best known for his studies on the traditional systems of navigation used by the Pacific Islanders. His studies, published in the book '' We, the Navigators'', made these navigational methods known to a wide audience and helped to inspire a revival of traditional voyaging methods in the South Pacific. Early life Lewis was born in Plymouth, England, and raised in New Zealand and Rarotonga. He was sent to the Polynesian school in Rarotonga, where he apparently developed his appreciation for Polynesian identity and culture. He remained a New Zealander throughout his life, though he eventually retired to Queensland. After an adventurous childhood and teenage years including mountaineering and skiing in New Zealand, and a multi-hundred mile kayak journey, he traveled to England in 1938 for medical training at the University of Leeds, and served in the British ar ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Plymouth
Plymouth () is a port city and unitary authority in South West England. It is located on the south coast of Devon, approximately south-west of Exeter and south-west of London. It is bordered by Cornwall to the west and south-west. Plymouth's early history extends to the Bronze Age when a first settlement emerged at Mount Batten. This settlement continued as a trading post for the Roman Empire, until it was surpassed by the more prosperous village of Sutton founded in the ninth century, now called Plymouth. In 1588, an English fleet based in Plymouth intercepted and defeated the Spanish Armada. In 1620, the Pilgrim Fathers departed Plymouth for the New World and established Plymouth Colony, the second English settlement in what is now the United States of America. During the English Civil War, the town was held by the Roundhead, Parliamentarians and was besieged between 1642 and 1646. Throughout the Industrial Revolution, Plymouth grew as a commercial shipping port, handling ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Sextant
A sextant is a doubly reflecting navigation instrument that measures the angular distance between two visible objects. The primary use of a sextant is to measure the angle between an astronomical object and the horizon for the purposes of celestial navigation. The estimation of this angle, the altitude, is known as ''sighting'' or ''shooting'' the object, or ''taking a sight''. The angle, and the time when it was measured, can be used to calculate a position line on a nautical or aeronautical chart—for example, sighting the Sun at noon or Polaris at night (in the Northern Hemisphere) to estimate latitude (with sight reduction). Sighting the height of a landmark can give a measure of ''distance off'' and, held horizontally, a sextant can measure angles between objects for a position on a chart. A sextant can also be used to measure the lunar distance between the moon and another celestial object (such as a star or planet) in order to determine Greenwich Mean Time and hence ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Caroline Islands
The Caroline Islands (or the Carolines) are a widely scattered archipelago of tiny islands in the western Pacific Ocean, to the north of New Guinea. Politically, they are divided between the Federated States of Micronesia (FSM) in the central and eastern parts of the group, and Palau at the extreme western end. Historically, this area was also called ''Nuevas Filipinas'' or New Philippines, because they were part of the Spanish East Indies and were governed from Manila in the Philippines. The Carolines are scattered across a distance of approximately 3,540 kilometers (2,200 miles), from the westernmost island, Tobi (island), Tobi, in Palau, to the easternmost island, Kosrae, a Administrative divisions of the Federated States of Micronesia, state of the FSM. Description The group consists of about 500 small coral islands, east of the Philippines, in the Pacific Ocean. The distance from Yap (one of the larger Caroline islands) to Manila is . Most of the islands are made up of ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Puluwat
Poluwat, also Polowat, formerly Puluwat, is a coral atoll and a municipality of Chuuk state, Federated States of Micronesia. Geography Polowat is located in the northwestern region ( Oksoritod), and there in the western area (Pattiw) of Chuuk state. The location is . The atoll has five islets (including itself) lying on the rim of the reef, with an aggregate land area of 3.4 km2, listed counterclockwise starting at Polowat in the southeast: #Polowat (east) #Alengelap (north rim) #To (north rim) #Alei (west) #Haw (south) Since Polowat Atoll has only a small lagoon, in comparison with most Micronesian atolls, the total size is only 7 km2. Alei in the west and Polowat in the east, the two largest islands of the atoll, have breadfruit trees at the middle and coconut palms along the shores. Along the northern rim of the reef, between Polowat and Alei, are Alengelap Islet and To Islet. The southern corner of the atoll is marked by Haw Islet, with 0.02 km2 the smallest ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Ketch
A ketch is a two- masted sailboat whose mainmast is taller than the mizzen mast (or aft-mast), and whose mizzen mast is stepped forward of the rudder post. The mizzen mast stepped forward of the rudder post is what distinguishes the ketch from a yawl, which has its mizzen mast stepped aft of its rudder post. In the 19th and 20th centuries, ketch rigs were often employed on larger yachts and working watercraft, but ketches are also used as smaller working watercraft as short as 15 feet, or as small cruising boats, such as Bill Hanna's Tahiti ketches or L. Francis Herreshoff's Rozinante and H-28. The name ketch is derived from ''catch''. The ketch's main mast is usually stepped further forward than the position found on a sloop. The sail plan of a ketch is similar to that of a yawl, on which the mizzen mast is smaller and set further back. There are versions of the ketch rig that only has a mainsail and a mizzen, in which case they are referred to as ''cat ketch''. More comm ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Tonga
Tonga (, ; ), officially the Kingdom of Tonga ( to, Puleʻanga Fakatuʻi ʻo Tonga), is a Polynesian country and archipelago. The country has 171 islands – of which 45 are inhabited. Its total surface area is about , scattered over in the southern Pacific Ocean. As of 2021, according to Johnson's Tribune, Tonga has a population of 104,494, 70% of whom reside on the main island, Tongatapu. The country stretches approximately north-south. It is surrounded by Fiji and Wallis and Futuna (France) to the northwest; Samoa to the northeast; New Caledonia (France) and Vanuatu to the west; Niue (the nearest foreign territory) to the east; and Kermadec (New Zealand) to the southwest. Tonga is about from New Zealand's North Island. First inhabited roughly 2,500 years ago by the Lapita civilization, Tonga's Polynesian settlers gradually evolved a distinct and strong ethnic identity, language, and culture as the Tongan people. They were quick to establish a powerful footing acr ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Santa Cruz Islands
The Santa Cruz Islands are a group of islands in the Pacific Ocean, part of Temotu Province of the nation of Solomon Islands discovered by the Spaniards. They lie approximately 250 miles (400 km) to the southeast of the Solomon Islands archipelago. The Santa Cruz Islands lie just north of the archipelago of Vanuatu, and are considered part of the Vanuatu rain forests ecoregion. Geography The term Santa Cruz Islands is sometimes used to encompass all of the islands of the present-day Solomon Islands province of Temotu. The largest island is Nendö, which is also known as Santa Cruz Island proper (505.5 km2, highest point , population over 5000). Lata, located on Nendö, is the largest town, and the capital of Temotu province. Other islands belonging to the Santa Cruz group are Vanikoro (173.2 km2, population 800, which is actually two islands, Banie and its small neighbor Teanu) and Utupua (69.0 km2, highest point , population 848). The Santa Cruz Isl ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Micronesian Navigation
Micronesian navigation techniques are those navigation skills used for thousands of years by the navigators who voyaged between the thousands of small islands in the western Pacific Ocean in the subregion of Oceania, that is commonly known as Micronesia. These voyagers used wayfinding techniques such as the navigation by the stars, and observations of birds, ocean swells, and wind patterns, and relied on a large body of knowledge from oral tradition. These navigation techniques continued to be held by Polynesian navigation, Polynesian navigators and navigators from the Santa Cruz Islands. The Polynesian Voyaging Society, re-creations of Polynesian voyaging in the late 20th century used traditional stellar navigational methods that had remained in everyday use in the Caroline Islands. Early voyaging Based on the current scientific consensus, the Micronesians are considered, by linguistic, archaeological, and human genetic evidence, to be a subset of the sea-migrating Austronesian ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Te Lapa
''Te lapa'' is a Polynesian term for an unexplained and scientifically unproven light phenomenon underneath, or on the surface of, the ocean. ''Te lapa'' has been loosely translated as "flashing light", "underwater lightning", "the flashing", or "something that flashes". It was used by historic and modern Polynesians as a navigation aid to find islands in the Pacific Ocean. In some instances, it has been theorized to be bioluminescence or electromagnetic in nature. Other hypotheses include the interference patterns of intersecting waves creating a raised curve acting as a lens, but would not explain the source of light. David Lewis speculated that ''te lapa'' may originate from luminescence of organisms, or related to deep swell, ground swell, or backwash waves from reefs or islands. History ''Te lapa'' was brought to the attention of academia by David Lewis with the publication of his book ''We, the Navigators'' in 1972. The book dispelled the former academic belief that Po ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Hipour
Hipour was a master navigator from the navigational school of Weriyeng and the island of Puluwat. He is notable for teaching author Thomas Gladwin the art of navigation for his 1970 book, '' East Is a Big Bird'', which greatly reinvigorated interest in traditional Pacific celestial navigation. Hipour also accompanied David Henry Lewis on his ketch '' Isbjorn'' from Puluwat to Saipan and back, using traditional navigation techniques, which helped to fuel a renaissance in voyaging between the Caroline and Mariana Islands. See also * Fanuankuwel * Kafeŕoor *Mau Piailug *Polynesian navigation *Wa (watercraft) ''Wa'' are traditional sailing outrigger canoes of the Caroline Islands, Palau, and Yap. They have a single outrigger. They are similar to the '' sakman'' of the Northern Marianas. Design and construction ''Wa'' are proa — vessels with ide ... References {{Austronesian ships category:Micronesia category:Navigators Caroline Islands ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Pacific Islanders
Pacific Islanders, Pasifika, Pasefika, or rarely Pacificers are the peoples of the Pacific Islands. As an ethnic/racial term, it is used to describe the original peoples—inhabitants and diasporas—of any of the three major subregions of Oceania (Melanesia, Micronesia, and Polynesia). Melanesians include the Fijians (Fiji), Kanaks (New Caledonia), Ni-Vanuatu (Vanuatu), Papua New Guineans (Papua New Guinea), Solomon Islanders (Solomon Islands), and West Papuans (Indonesia's West Papua). Micronesians include the Carolinians (Northern Mariana Islands), Chamorros (Guam), Chuukese ( Chuuk), I-Kiribati (Kiribati), Kosraeans (Kosrae), Marshallese (Marshall Islands), Palauans (Palau), Pohnpeians (Pohnpei), and Yapese (Yap). Polynesians include the New Zealand Māori (New Zealand), Native Hawaiians (Hawaii), Rapa Nui (Easter Island), Samoans (Samoa and American Samoa), Tahitians (Tahiti), Tokelauans (Tokelau), Niueans (Niue), Cook Islands Māori (Cook Islands) and Tongans (To ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Australian National University
The Australian National University (ANU) is a public research university located in Canberra, the capital of Australia. Its main campus in Acton encompasses seven teaching and research colleges, in addition to several national academies and institutes. ANU is regarded as one of the world's leading universities, and is ranked as the number one university in Australia and the Southern Hemisphere by the 2022 QS World University Rankings and second in Australia in the ''Times Higher Education'' rankings. Compared to other universities in the world, it is ranked 27th by the 2022 QS World University Rankings, and equal 54th by the 2022 ''Times Higher Education''. In 2021, ANU is ranked 20th (1st in Australia) by the Global Employability University Ranking and Survey (GEURS). Established in 1946, ANU is the only university to have been created by the Parliament of Australia. It traces its origins to Canberra University College, which was established in 1929 and was integrated into ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
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