Yachtie plans to find Americas by stars

Press, 23 March 1988, Page 46

Yachtie plans to find Americas by stars

NZPA-AAP Brisbane i A . Brisbane, yachtsman i plans to sail' back 3500 years in Pacific history to { prove that ancient South- | East Asian sailors could | have journeyed to the Americas navigating by ; the stars. I The 7500 nautical mile journey from { the Philippines to Los Angeles via L Yokohama in | Japan in a ; primitive outrigger canoe ■ is not the first challenge ■' undertaken I by Serge Testa, aged 37. Last May,l Mr Testa took his 3.6-metre vessel j Acrohc Australis on a 27,000 ’ naufical mile three-year journey to break the record for the smallest boat| to circumnavigate the world. ' Being cooped up alone for months and dealing! with four cyclones and a fire didn’t dampen his enthusiasm. He has spent just enough time on land | to write a book about his I last voyage and plan the! next one. ! ij Towards the end of: next month, Mr Testa and i his brother, Silvio, agedi; 24, will leave for Manila to prepare for the epicl voyage in i I a dugout I outrigger of about 'l5 i metres. I . i They will use materials!

and food supplies as close! as possible to I those ofl mariners of! about 1500 8.C., Mr Testa told AAP. “In world there, are no new lands to discover, but I would like to| i imagine myself as one of I . those early ■ navigators,! | setting out .to discover! ! new places and relying on! i the stars to navigate. I ! “We want to sail as! ..closely as possible to the| I way they did ; long ago' ? without the hassles j electronics and techno-l i logy- 11 “We are also trying tq I prove the feasibility of the ! idea that ancient Pacific i mariners would have i made their : way to the | Americas, and therefore : their way home, without modern equipment such as sextants; compasses and charts.” j ; ,But Mr Testa is happy j td leave the historical dej i bate! to scholars — “I. just i want to do the sailing to ! prove it was possible,” he ! said? • | T ! Tiie brothers plan to | reconstruct a dugout I outrigger in the Philip--! pines, probably using the ! design of a proa, one of! the outriggers most suit)-: able for rough weather oh ■ the high seas; pl. The proa has only one; float and this means it has I

to be. reversible — bow becoming stern and stem bow because it can only be sailed by keeping the float on the windward side. 11 It Is still, used widely .throughout the Pacific, although modern materials have! replaced ancient ones jin most cases. Mr Testa said a proa had irecently proved its seaworthiness by sailing from! the Philippines to Madagascar, although its crew used modern navigationaL methods. Hell plans to replace modem canvas sails with animal hides and modern ropes with traditional materials such as leather, bark or coconut fibre. Provisions will include live ichickens, rice, taro, breadfruit, fruit, drinking and eating coconuts and enough water, stored in gourds, to allow the two men ! to share six litres a day. I; : I ■ ; ■ • ■ 1 "We will cook food in a~ wooden bowl lined with coral gravel and we will use original implements such! as bone and shell hooks and spears for fishing," Mr Testa said. But they will carry safety gear such as a liferaft, distress' beacon, medical supplies and a VHF: radio with a 10 nau-

■ tical mile range,! as well as camera equipment for Silvio, a! photographer. I "We expect the 1500 nautical i j mile | i journey from I the Philippines to Yokohama to take labout two weeks and! hope to arrive! in Japan in' |mid June,” Mr Testa'said. The area to be covered in this section of the voyage is | known' for, its! pirates, but Mr Testa does not expect problems.! 4 j i"I have been told there are some Philippine; islands i where they are particularly found, so we will just keep; out of their way as much as possible!” Mr Testa plans to spend about i a m<j)nth ! in Yokohama gearing up for the 6000 nautical! mile journey ’ to Angeles which he hopesl to j reach in September, i j ! ,! “Landing exactly in Los Angeles! will prove the accuracy of star navigation. We are confident we can make it,” Mr I Testa said. JI j i ■ To emphasise the im--4 portance. of the stars in the journey, the: brothers will name their {craft Alulei, after a powerful sea !| god in I the Pacific who was the! first to sail his canoe unerringly between 1 islands. ||' : ’■ |! ' | j,J|| {'• |