Mau Piailug: Navigation

Mau Piailug was Micronesian navigator from the Carolinian island of Satawal and a teacher of traditional, non-instrument wayfinding methods for deep-sea voyaging. Explore interesting quotes on navigation.
Mau Piailug: 22   quotes 1   like

“My father taught me that the sea is full of signs. Let's say we leave on a voyage at sunset. At midnight the navigator listens for chirping birds. You and I don't hear them—we can't hear them. Only the navigator can hear them.”

Mau Piailug

The Last Navigator (1987)

Bird , Sea

“In the old days, the navigators used magic to make themselves strong, but now, nothing; they just pray. Before they leave and at sea, they pray. But I, I make myself strong by thinking—just by thinking! I make myself strong because I despise cowardice. Too many men are afraid of the sea. But I am a navigator.”

Mau Piailug

The Last Navigator (1987)

Men , Thinking , Strong , Sea

“The people in Micronesia, they not like before. Before, everybody, man and woman, they learn about the culture and navigation. But now, nobody like learn, because they use the GPS and the motorboat. But what you going to do when the GPS broke, or the engine broke? You just gonna follow the wind and the current away, and maybe die in the ocean.”

Mau Piailug

From Ferrar, Derek (March 2006). "Papa Mau's Legacy". Ka Wai Ola o OHA. 23 (3):13.

People , Learning

“My grandfather tell me not to hold the knowledge to myself; I have to pass it on. Before, some navigators in Micronesia, they never share the knowledge. But me, I share it to everybody, because I know maybe sometime we lose it.”

Mau Piailug

From Ferrar, Derek (March 2006). "Papa Mau's Legacy". Ka Wai Ola o OHA. 23 (3):12.

Knowledge