Chad Kalepa Baybayan, seafarer who sailed using the stars, dies at 64
By Alex Vadukul New York Times,Updated May 15, 2021, 3:59 p.m.
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In this April 29, 2014, file photo, master navigator Chad Kalepa Baybayan stands aboard the deck of the Hokulea canoe off Honolulu.Oskar Garcia/Associated Press
Chad Kalepa Baybayan, a revered Hawaiian seafarer who was a torchbearer for the art of âwayfinding,â which ancestral Polynesian sailors used to navigate the Pacific Ocean by studying the stars, trade winds and flight patterns of birds, died on April 8 at a friendâs home in Seattle. He was 64.
His daughter Kala Tanaka said the cause was a heart attack. He suffered from diabetes and had had a quadruple bypass over a year ago.