The Barefoot Navigator

NauticalReads.com, June 2008:

“As a teen growing up in Hawai'i, tales of ancient Polynesian sailors migrating across the Pacific were part of the culture. The skills and techniques used by these early sailors were less evident. Lagan's book, The Barefoot Navigator begins with a discussion of their techniques before exploring other ancient navigators; Norse, Chinese, and Arab.

Lagan's premise is that modern sailors are too dependent on electronic navigation tools and that those tools are subject to failure. In contrast the movement of sun and stars, ocean currents, and weather patterns have remained consistent for eons. The prudent sailor will know how to use natural patterns to safely navigate when electronics fail.

By following the historical development of navigational techniques, Lagan introduces complex topics in a simple, easy to understand manner. Along the way he shows how ancients used primitive navigation tools to find their way across oceans and deserts. Lagan instructs the sailor on building and using these tools built of string, sticks, and hands and fingers.

Latitudes & Attitudes, April 2007:

“Ever wonder how the Polynesians managed to find their way throughout the Pacific? And what about the Vikings? Even if they would have stopped to ask for directions, no one had any. There were no navigation instruments or charts. This book investigates their navigation capabilities and shows you how practical, technology-free navigation can be used to enhance modern navigation. Interesting stuff!”

Sailing, February 2007:

“To be honest, by the time I finished Jack Lagan’s The Barefoot Navigator I had already forgotten most of the low-tech navigation methods he outlines in the book, methods that require a bit more thought than pushing an on button. But that’s OK. I don’t see myself using a Viking sun-shadow board to track my latitude anytime soon, and may the gods help me should I ever find myself in a position where I would need to. Nor did I feel as if I had just wasted hours of my time, for Lagan is a thoroughly entertaining writer and, if nothing else, I did come away from the book with renewed confidence in my own abilities to locate myself on the planet. After all, I am fairly confident in my ability to locate Polaris and Orion, I’m pretty certain I know most of the prevailing wind patterns and I’m absolutely certain I know the directions of the rising and the setting sun. By examining the navigation skills of the ancient seafarers, Lagan takes the information available to anyone standing on a deck (the movement of sun, stars, wind and waves), expands upon it and then shows the reader how it can be used to get from point A to point B across the wide ocean.

“The Barefoot Navigator is not a dry recounting of esoteric techniques and mind-numbing calculations, although there is a bit of brain twisting involved. Wittily written in the same easygoing manner of his nautical dictionary, A B Sea, this short book is, in Lagan’s own words, ‘part history, part textbook and part polemic.’ First, Lagan explores the pre-technology navigation techniques of societies and yore, from the Polynesians to the Vikings, Chinese and ancient Egyptians and Arabs. Especially staggering, considering the expanse of the Pacific Ocean, are the navigational feats of the Polynesians. It never ceases to amaze me that these people sailed thousands of miles of open sea, from tiny island speck to speck, using little more than maps made from shells and sticks in the sand. The rest of the book then guides the reader on how to read nature’s signposts and gives instructions on building and using simple navigation tools. There’s even an appendix with helpful tables and schematics should the reader be moved to make his or her own quadrant or sun-shadow board.

“It should also be noted that this book is not a screed against GPS and modern electronic navigation. Rather, it’s a reaffirmation that some skills never go out of style, and moreover, knowing those skills connects a person in a very real way to those navigators of old. It’s a tradition well worth the study. I guess I’ll have to take another look at Lagan’s work. Maybe I’ll even make my own sun-shadow board.”

Cruising World, January 2007:

"This 160-page book is written for those who are bored with navigating solely by GPS and who distrust the total dependency on electronic position-finding. In a way, the author is harking back to a time not long ago when the terms "piloting" and "seamanship" had special meaning. But to wean us from our electronics addictions, he's returned to square one: the skills of the ancients, who found tiny islands hundreds of miles away by discerning the amplitude, wave-length, and direction of the seas; the positions of stars and constellations; the size and behavior of seabirds; and the like. The Barefoot Navigator is an exciting read that makes a compelling argument: To navigate better and with greater satisfaction, sailors must learn more about the sea around them."

Midwest Book Review, December 2006:

“The navigation skills of the ancients were legendary yet seem to pale in comparison with modern technology and navigation research – but The Barefoot Navigator: Navigating with the Skills of the Ancients offers up an important survey of these early skills, and applies them to modern times. From how to analyze clouds and currents to determine direction to how 21st century sailors can integrate these techniques with modern equipment, any sailor will find The Barefoot Navigator intriguing.”

Ocean Navigator, September/October 2006:

"The Barefoot Navigator is a cleverly written little book that combines the history of the ancient art of navigation with the practical application of those techniques today.

Author Jack Lagan explores the achievements of the ancients – the Polynesians, Phoenicians, Arabs, Vikings and Chinese. He discusses methods they employed before even the most rudimentary technology was available. Lagan demonstrates how ancient navigators used wind, swell, sun and stars, along with birds and even marine mammals to estimate their position and hold course until they made safe landfall.

The book is filled with entertaining quotes and historical snippets. In addition, it provides a comprehensive reference section. There are many useful tables and charts, which may also be downloaded from the author’s Web site (www.jack-lagan.com) along with “do-it-yourself” instructions for constructing low-tech navigation tools, such as an improvised quadrant using a protractor, a needle compass and even a plywood ship’s log.

Lagan does not propose these ancient methods as substitutes for charts and modern day electronics, rather, he suggests that these age-old skills and techniques can help 21st century navigators develop a sixth sense for where they are and may come in very handy should the need for survival navigation arise."

• For more information, see The Barefoot Navigator in our catalog.

• For similar titles, please visit the Navigation page in our catalog.

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