GIFF JOHNSON
What happens when a hard drive you own with many years of knowledge, information and documents stored suddenly dies? That is nothing compared to the death of an ocean navigator — a person who has the knowledge and experience in his brain from generations of navigators in his family, giving him the ability to guide boats across the ocean without instruments. That knowledge is priceless and in the hands of a dwindling number of Pacific Islanders.
Grandmaster Navigator Sesario Sewralur died last Friday, prompting an outpouring of comments and praise on social media for this ocean icon.
“I had the honor of sailing alongside Sesario and his father, Mau Piailug, as well as Hawaiian master navigators Shorty Bertelmann and Chadd Paishon on the eMau voyage aboard Makali’i from Kona, Hawaii, to Micronesia (in 1999),” said Alson Kelen, director of Waan Aelon in Majel (Canoes of the Marshall Islands).
“A true leader of the ocean and custodian of traditional wayfinding, his departure echoes deeply across the shores of Palau, Micronesia, and the Pacific,” said the Embassy of Palau to the United Nations in a social media post about Sesario.
Like his father, the legendary Mau Piailug who taught Hawaiians the art of ocean navigation, Sesario taught a new generation of islanders through a navigation course at Palau Community College and through his work with the Micronesian Voyaging Society.
Alson described Mau Piailug as “legendary,” and said Sesario “carried forward his father’s legacy.”
Speaking of the Makali’i canoe voyage from Hawaii to Majuro and to the FSM in 1999, Alson said: “Three other young Micronesian sailors were on that voyage, and we proudly called ourselves the ‘Micronauts.’ During that journey, we often spoke about creating a traditional navigation school for Micronesia. So when I learned that Sesario had established a traditional navigation course at Palau Community College, I felt hopeful that our dream was beginning to take shape.”
Alson said Sesario was frequently on ocean voyages as well as teaching when on land. “He expanded his voyaging even farther into Asia, continuing to build bridges across the Pacific,” Alson said. “Before his final voyage, Sesario wrote to tell me of his plans to sail east, stopping in the Marshall Islands along the way. He asked me to begin preparing for the visit because he wanted to bring Marshallese on the voyage. That conversation remains close to my heart.”
He called Sesario “a true RiMeto” — an Ocean Person.
“He was known among the stars, guided by the winds, and embraced by the sea,” Alson said. “His name will forever be carried on the breeze, and every wave that reaches our shores will remind us of the remarkable navigator, teacher, and friend whose legacy continues to guide future generations.”