Mau Piailug

Pius Mau Piailug, master navigator, died on July 12th, aged 78

A friend passed me this obituary and I wanted to post it here.

"IN THE spring of 1976 Mau Piailug offered to sail a boat from Hawaii to Tahiti. The expedition, covering 2,500 miles, was organised by the Polynesian Voyaging Society to see if ancient seafarers could have gone that way, through open ocean. The boat was beautiful, a double-hulled canoe named Hokule’a, or “Star of Gladness” (Arcturus to Western science). But there was no one to captain her. At that time, Mau was the only man who knew the ancient Polynesian art of sailing by the stars, the feel of the wind and the look of the sea. So he stepped forward."

I was very lucky to have the opportunity to join Sesario, Mau's son, on a journey from Palau to Ngulu back in February, on the Alingano Maisu. The canoe we sailed was given to Mau by the Hawaiians in gratitude for re-teaching them traditional navigation skills after these skills had disappeared from cultural memory.

In Mau's historic voyage from Hawaii to Tahiti in 1976, Sesario was on board, at only six years old. A few years ago, Mau elected Sesario to continue teaching these skills in Micronesia at the helm of Alingano Maisu, which means the "beautification of fallen breadfruit." In his passing, his spirit lives on through his children, his disciples and his students. To read more about Mau and the incredible life he led - read this article in the Economist.

http://www.economist.com/node/16635898?story_id=16635898

Sesario, 2010

To check out the Voyaging Society, visit the 2009-2010 Traditional Navigation and Sailing web site