Paddling Experiments and the Question of Polynesian Voyaging¹

The degree of control the Polynesians exercised over their dispersion and settlement in the islands of the Eastern Pacific has lately become a subject of debate between those who maintain that planned colonizing expeditions and long‐distance two‐way voyaging were important in this movement and those who deny this possibility and discuss settlement only in terms of random drift voyages or one‐way exile voyaging. Crucial to this debate are estimates of Polynesian maritime skills. This paper reports the results of paddling experiments involving a Hawaiian double‐canoe and discusses their relevance to the problem of Polynesian voyaging and settlement. The results of the present experiments suggested that paddling, as the sole propulsive force of a double‐canoe, would have been of extremely limited value for long‐range voyaging. The experiments indicated that a crew of physically fit and experienced paddlers were able to paddle a Hawaiian double‐canoe over fifty miles in two days, but that they were close to their physiological limit of tolerance. However, if paddling is considered to be a significant auxiliary source of power available to Polynesian voyagers, it is evident that the Polynesians exercised a significant degree of control over their movements in the Pacific.