Traditional voyaging journey across Pacific trains next generation of navigators

A 6,200 nautical mile traditional voyaging journey is underway across the Pacific, aimed at passing down ancestral navigation and engaging youth in ocean stewardship.

The canoe, “Alingano Maisu,” departed Koror in mid-February under the leadership of Grandmaster Navigator Sesario Sewralur. The four-month journey will take the crew to Taiwan, Okinawa, Guam, Saipan, Satawal, and Yap before returning home ahead of the Pacific Islands forum in 2026.

Micronesian Voyaging Society President Shallum Etpison said, “We see this as more than a voyage but a reflection of ocean culture, a living system of knowledge, kinship, and responsibility shaped by generations who crossed sea lanes to sustain their communities. In Micronesia, the ocean is not a boundary; it connects the whole society”.

Master navigators sail alongside younger crew members, teaching traditional wayfinding skills including star paths, weather reading, and sail handling. The voyage also includes youth exchanges, community outreach, and marine science activities, with the crew collecting environmental data and engaging with schools and communities at each port.

Among the crew is Sewralur’s son, 22-year-old Landon Moss Sewralur, a Paiurourou navigator who has completed advanced traditional celestial navigation training, a rigorous discipline often compared to mastering complex modern navigational systems.

He is joined by Mykah Uowolo, 19, of Hawaiʻi and Yap; Elilai Sugiyama, 32, a champion paddler from Palau; Metukr Columbus, 22, of Palau; and Zea Nauta, 29, of Guam, serving as educational coordinator for the voyage.

Along the route, the crew will be joined by cultural leaders and representatives, including members of Taiwan’s Paiwan community such as Chih-Chiang Tai (Sakinu) and Shih-Hao Tu (“Cudjoy”).

Sakinu is the author of the acclaimed novel Hunter School, a coming-of-age story centered on identity, elders, and ancestral knowledge. Widely read in Taiwan and discussed in Asian studies programs at institutions including Harvard University, the book reflects a broader regional movement to reconnect youth with land, language, and heritage.

The intergenerational crew reflects a deliberate strategy: to pass navigational knowledge forward while strengthening international dialogue around shared ocean responsibility, not as nostalgia, but as continuity within a living ocean culture.

Total Distance: ~6,200 nautical miles

Total voyage duration: ~100–104 days Total sailing days: ~54–58 days

Total land / program days: ~44–48 days dedicated to cultural exchange, education programs,

and community engagement across Taiwan, Japan, and Micronesia.”

February

• Feb 15 – Depart Palau

March – Taiwan

• Mar 6–8 – Arrive Kaohsiung, Taiwan

• Mar 12 – Depart Kaohsiung → East Coast Sail

• Mar 15 – Arrive Taitung (Fugang), Taiwan

• Mar 22 – Depart Taitung

• Mar 24 – Arrive Hualien, Taiwan

• Mar 30 – Depart Hualien → Japan

• April – Japan (Okinawa) Arrival window is weather-dependent; final timing subject to

• sea state and prevailing winds.

• Apr 10–12 – Arrive Okinawa (Yonabaru Marina)

• Apr 18 – Depart Okinawa Departure is weather-dependent and contingent on

• safe sailing conditions.

Japan → Guam → Saipan

• May 1 – Arrive Guam

• May 4 – Depart Guam

• May 5 – Arrive Saipan

• May 7 – Depart Saipan

May – Micronesia

• May 14 – Arrive Satawal

• May 19 – Depart Satawal

• May 23 – Arrive Yap

• May 27 – Depart Yap

• May 30 – Arrive Palau

• May 30 – Arrival Ceremony (Palau)