One of the things that irks me when Polynesians seafarers are mentioned is that they went island hopping only out of necessity. This is fundamentally not true, but the “history” of this culture was largely written by Europeans until the 20th century.
They were explorers as well. They wanted to find new places beyond the horizon. They understood how to travel the world’s most beautiful yet harshest ocean. I would imagine that they lost many great navigators in their attempts to explore and find new places, but they kept going. They spread Polynesian civilization across the widest swath that anyone ever has in human civilization history. It is why I hold them and their sailing feats above anyone else that took to the world’s oceans in search of what was out there. That they can still use these ancient methods to accurately travel is, to me, incredible. I have watched up close for the last year what Polynesian culture is like and one thing that stands out is their love of the Pacific Ocean. Everywhere you go on the Windward side of Oahu you will see people out on the water in canoes. It’s still an integral part of life here on these islands as well as every other island group in the Pacific. I still have to marvel that the Polynesians who left the Marquesas Islands a millenia or so ago were able to find the Hawaiian Islands. The seamanship and expertise with this ocean to pull that off has no equal.