For weeks, they would live aboard boats made from wood and lashings of braided fiber. Thousands of miles were traversed, without the aid of sextants or compasses. The ancient Polynesians navigated ...

Sails made of matting drove this ancient forerunner of the modern catamaran swiftly through the seas, and long steering paddles enabled Polynesian mariners to keep it sailing on course.

Some had to be changed to meet the government’s demands on tourist boats, which are fully booked in high season. The ancient Polynesians navigated by the sun, wind and currents. Birds and the ...