"synopsis" may belong to another edition of this title.
As a young man piloting a small sailboat across the Pacific, Steve Thomas developed a fascination with ancient methods of navigation. He learned of a seafaring culture which 6,000 years ago, used arcane navigation arts to guide initiates unerringly across the Pacific wih no compasses, no charts. By the time of Christ, these navigators were pushing on through all of Oceania, populating nearly a quarter of the Earth's surface. Thomas ventured to the tiny coral atolls of Micronesia in search of these mysteries, this ancient language of the sea. There he found the last navigator.
Mau Piailug, one of the last surviving palu, belongs to a dying breed of navigators who used only natural signs stars, waves, birds to guide their sailing canoes across thousands of miles of open ocean.
Thomas and Piailug voyage together on the frail ship of human memory in an attempt to preserve for future generaions an ancient, mysterious, and beautiful kinship with the sea before it is lost forever. Theirs is an unforgettable journey.
"An unusually self-revealing, honest and moving book."
Scientific American.
"Finely crafted and compellingly written. . . . A deeply saddening book about the fast approaching death of an ancient and beautiful way of life."
Aloha Magazine
Steve Thomas by thirty-one years of age had already logged more than 30,000 blue-water miles as a professional navigator and skipper before setting out to study Micronesian navigation. He is currently the host of the PBS television series "This Old House."
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Book Description 1st Ed. (12), 308 PP with 1 map on double pages and 18 sketch-maps and drawings, plus 8 pages with 14 colour photos. Title spread: stars. Hard cover, cloth spine, dj. Ex Library copy with stamps on half title page and verso of title page, renewed endpapers, sellotape marks on covers, first leaves with insect damage at top of front outside edge. Occasional foxing spots. A good reading / working copy. 23.5 x 16. Part adventure story, part traveller's tale and serious scientific inquiry. Seller Inventory # 70003
Book Description 1st Ed. (12), 308 PP with 1 map on double pages and 18 sketch-maps and drawings, plus 8 pages with 14 colour photos. Title spread: stars. Hard cover, cloth spine, dj. Occasional foxing spots, o/wise near fine. 23.5 x 16. Part adventure story, part traveller's tale and serious scientific inquiry. Seller Inventory # 14793
Book Description Condition: Good. Most items will be dispatched the same or the next working day. A tan to the pages. Seller Inventory # wbb0024610942
Book Description Paperback. Condition: Very Good. The book has been read, but is in excellent condition. Pages are intact and not marred by notes or highlighting. The spine remains undamaged. Seller Inventory # GOR001312469
Book Description Condition: Used. Seller Inventory # 26356522203
Book Description Condition: Used. Seller Inventory # 355968772