The Barefoot Navigator: Navigating With the Skills of the Ancients

The Barefoot Navigator is an unusual and fascinating exploration
of the skills of navigation employed by the ancients and transferrable
to the present day. The first half of the book investigates the
navigation capabilities of seafarers long before modern navigation
instruments or charts became available. For example, how did the
Polynesians manage to populate an area of ocean larger than North
America simply by analysing clouds, currents, wind direction, sun,
stars and the flight patterns of ocean birds? And how did the Vikings
routinely travel between Iceland, Greenland and Scandinavia - huge
tracts of treacherous water? The second part of the book analyses how
the techniques of the ancients can be employed by 21st century seafarers to supplement today's navigational hardware - especially in survival situations.




This is a unique analysis of practical technology-free navigation,
whose techniques can easily be employed by modern navigators to
supplement their personal navigation skills in order to just 'know'
where they are. It will fascinate navigators and landlubbers alike.