One man, no compass, 2,500 miles of open ocean. Lunatic or legend?
In hand-built, double-hulled canoes sixty feet long, the ancestors of today's Polynesians sailed vast distances using only the waves, the stars, and the flights of birds to navigate. Anthropologist Sanford Low visits the Caroline Islands of Micronesia to meet Mau Piailug, the last navigator initiated on his island and one of few men still practicing this once-essential art. He demonstrates his skill by sailing a replica canoe 2500 miles from Hawaii to Tahiti with no modern navigational instruments.
Cinematography
70s documentary footage that makes the Pacific look infinite
Production
Actual voyage filmed—no reenactments, pure nerve
Director
Boyd Estus
Trivia, insights & behind the scenes
US
