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I remember back in the '50s that the Bahamians sailed from Andros to
Nassau without using a compass.
They knew the direction from Andros Island and would set sail in that
direction.
When the wind direction changed,they would alter their course noting at
the time the direction of the swell so they knew what direction they
would have to make good after changing their course.
The reason this worked was that the direction of the swell would change
some time after the wind direction changed.
That, plus looking for the reflection of the land (dark) under the
clouds enabled them to reach Nassau while transiting the area known as
the Tongue of the Ocean.
frank
On Wednesday, Feb 11, 2004, at 10:58 US/Pacific, Ken Muldrew wrote:

> On 11 Feb 2004 at 10:27, Royer, Doug wrote:
>
>> All,looking back over the archives I've noticed some areas of the art
>> and science of navigation haven't been discussed by the group at all.
>>  2. Traditional native ocean or
>> terrestrial navigation
>
> I've read that Polynesian navigators relied heavily on ocean swells
> for direction (and also that they could detect islands by reflected
> waves). Do any of the seagoing members of the group use the ocean
> swell for navigation? Perhaps as an easy way of following a compass
> bearing?
>

   

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