You are doing a crossword puzzle. The clue is a five-letter word for a navigational tool. You might come up with loran. For seven letters, a good guess would be compass. For three, GPS is a shoe-in. But for a 10-letter word, would wayfinding cross your mind? Probably not.

Nainoa Thompson, president of the Polynesian Voyaging Society, is one of the few native Hawaiians since the 14th century to practice wayfinding—the art and science of ancient non-instrument navigation—for long-distance ocean voyaging. He navigates by the stars and nature, not even using a sextant.

And we do mean long distances. Thompson made a solo voyage in 1980 from Hawaii to Tahiti. Between 1985 and 1987, he covered more than 16,000 ocean miles navigating Hōkūle’a, a replica of a Polynesian sailing canoe, from Hawaii to New Zealand and back.

By and large, wayfinding skills died out following the colonization of the Polynesian islands. Thompson has made it his life’s work to revive them. He learned to appreciate sea life from his father and mentors such as Mau Piailug, a Micronesian navigator from the island of Satawal, which is about 500 miles south of Guam. Piailug used the sun and stars, winds and clouds, seas and swells, and birds and fish to aid in navigation.

Thompson says he has learned important lessons about self-discipline and courage from navigating by the stars. With inspiration from his kupuna (ancestors), he says, he has concentrated on exploring the deeper meaning of voyaging. He has become an advocate of ocean conservation, and has trained a new generation of navigators as a designated pwo, an ancient Micronesian word denoting a sacred initiation ritual for students of traditional navigation. In 2007, Piailug conducted a ceremony on Satawal to initiate 16 students as pwo. Thompson was one of them.

“Our great teacher, Mau Piailug, told us to always voyage in seram—the light,” Thompson says. “To set out from our islands and to bring back something of value for our community. So, today, we sail around the world to learn from others who are striving to live sustainably and to share with them the wisdom our ancestors gave to us.”

In June 2017, Thompson completed a three-year voyage, sailing 47,000 nautical miles to nearly 100 ports and 25 nations, practicing sustainable living while sharing Polynesian culture.

“It is important to [be] learning from the past and from each other,” Thompson says, “so that we can create hope and global relationships around protecting our most cherished values and places from disappearing.”

Thompson has received many awards for his work. Last year, he received the SeaKeeper of the Year Award, given by the International SeaKeepers Society to an individual who has demonstrated an extraordinary commitment to ocean conservation. Yachts International is a media partner of the society. 

For more information: hokulea.com; seakeepers.org

This article was originally published in the Summer 2023 issue.