May 2026
S.D. “Doc” Regan
SEA NEWS
Steve Thomas researched and wrote a fascinating book, THE LAST NAVIGATOR, about a master Micronesian man who could sail hundreds of miles between islands without any technology and using only his long-taught skills from elders who passed down sailing knowledge for over 2,500 years. A thousand years before Columbus and sundry European explorers, the Micronesians were sailing from islands East of the Philippines to Hawaii.
Mau Piailug, the genius of navigation, was able to sail from Hawaii to Tahiti in a small sailing canoe using only his knowledge of the sea. He had learned the ways of his ancestors who were able to smell weather, identify stars, adjust to currents by feel, read waves and swells, and mentally calculate distance and speed with the precision of a Swiss Watchmaker. One such trick included observing and understanding certain sea birds that ventured only 20 miles from their nests and went out to sea in a straight line and returned in a straight line.
Sadly, such skills have been abandoned by the younger generations of Micronesians who now rely on compasses, GPS, charts, and technology. Thomas, a writer and researcher as well as anthropologist, spent the larger part of two years learning, photographing, taping, and listening to the older men who still operated on ancient skills and used their native language.
The book can be as dry as it is interesting. Thomas often uses native names for stars, birds, and surf that is as difficult to read as the people’s names that profusely use vowels instead of consonants. Nevertheless, sailors will be astonished by the brilliance of these Micronesians and their abilities.
Micronesian Sailing Canoes
ENVIRONMENT
That whales, one of the most intelligent creatures on Planet Earth, once roamed the sea with impunity and by the thousands, is well known, as is the fact that the 18th, 19th, and even the 20th century decimated their population for lamp oil, stabilizer for perfumes, and baleen for ladies’ garments. The number of whales has dwindled to the point of severe concern about their potential extinction. Folk singers and celebrities assisted in bringing this issue to the fore, especially for the noted humpback whale. Unfortunately, their cousin, the Right Whale, is bordering on disappearing.
The precious Right Whale’s numbers are around 315-380. Biologists have separated them into three species that only a professional could distinguish; however, the Atlantic Right Whale tends to congregate only in excruciatingly small areas like Cape Cod Bay, where they are constantly harmed by fishing lines and ship collisions. In the past ten years, 38 whales have died due to these causes. Perhaps because of Global Warming, some have now moved toward Canada to feed, play, and reproduce; however, their birthrate hovers equally with death rates.
The t Whale is a baleen whale that uses their comb-like teeth to sift micro-pods and plankton for food, eating as much as 1000 pounds daily. They can weigh in at 70 tons and grow to 50’. Interestingly, as plankton have been depleted, the average length of the species has declined.
The city of Des Moines spends approximately $16,000 per day treating drinking water for nitrates and a sundry of other chemicals allegedly originating from farms via manure, fertilizers, herbicides, insecticides, and glyphosates (from Roundup). The Iowa legislature and Big Ag Chemical Companies continue to deny that farmers are the problem, and again refuse to force warning labels placed on chemical containers. An amazing number of Iowans no longer use tap water for drinking or cooking. This writer remembers when a coach left teaching to sell bottled water (1969), which was considered ridiculous at that time. Trying to sell water that is free??
Minnesota released its cautionary eating list of fish caught in Minnesota. Such warnings are necessary because of forever chemicals (3 M and Ford Truck Factory), microplastics, and agricultural chemical runoffs.
The state suggested that children, pregnant women (who else could get pregnant?), and seniors should consume no muskie, walleye, or pike over 28”; furthermore, people should dine on crappie, trout, herring, whitefish, blue gill, and perch no more than once per week. They recommended that bass be eaten only once a month.
One must wonder about Catholic school hot lunch programs during Lent. Worse, most public schools serve fish every Friday. What would Jesus do?
The Federal Government opened sulfur-copper mining in the Boundary Waters of Northern Minnesota thanks to a 50-49 vote in the Senate that reversed a 20-year-old ban on this pristine $13 billion-dollar recreational economy area. The ban was placed because of the creation of sulfuric acid and heavy metals. Minnesotans worked diligently to create the ban for many years because of the environmental concerns and the diminishing water quality in what simply became a political war between jobs and money on one side and environmental trepidations on the other (read this “Republicans versus Democrats”). Truth be told, I was a fervent Republican in those days, but this battle, occurring when I was in graduate school in Minnesota, was among the reasons I left the Party.
GRAY FLEET
The future of naval warfare will be considerably different from any previous oceanic conflict, thanks to artificial intelligence and a preponderance of uncrewed sailing vessels. Navy officials confirmed that “significant investments in unmanned systems and advanced technologies…that are a force multiplier across a wide array of missions.”
An example of such creativity occurred when over 100 drone swarms and other technologies were tested at Joint Interagency Field Experiments (JIFX) Camp Roberts, CA, last summer. Included in the use of drone swarms as an offensive weapon, laser weapons were used as a defensive mechanism against such attacks.
The Navy has also focused on large unmanned Modular Surface Attack Craft such as the USV LIBERTY, a 190’ 700-ton entity, that can sail over 10,000 miles autonomously using AI navigation systems to deliver military logistics or even to attack enemy vessels.
USV CORSAIR
USV SEAHAWK
Nolan Bowlus, Vice President of business development at AIMLOCK, a company specializing in research and manufacturing of systems for autonomous weapons, waxed eloquently in Sea Power magazine about the potential uses of robotics, AI, and autonomy, claiming that the effectiveness and efficiency of such vehicles make current weapon systems prohibitively expensive. Not only are these products cost-friendly, but they also provide crew safety and reduce action time.
Interestingly, environmentalists are enthusiastic about unmanned sailing vessels because they are inexpensive and numerous in number that provide large collections of sea data such as temperature, salinity, density, and atmospheric conditions. They can be used to track endangered species such as whales, turtles, and fish.
The Coast Guard, technically speaking, is not an element of the Gray Fleet despite massive attempts by the Navy to have it transferred from the Treasury Department to the Defense Department; however, for this column, they will be cited under that rubric. The Coasties supporters claim that the missions of their fleet is not aligned with the Navy, and they fear that it will simply be absorbed into the Gray Fleet’s agenda. Critics also note that the Navy drools over the Coast Guard budget, and they would love to add that to their overall income.
Nevertheless, one of the Coast Guard’s missions is rescue, which they do brilliantly under extraordinarily severe air and sea conditions. Micronesia, an independent nation but maintaining a Compact of Free Association (COFA) that assures U.S. financial assistance and guaranteed defense, is divided into four states, including the State of Chuuck (known as Truk during WWII), which consists of over 600 islands. A family of three went missing with their 23-foot skiff on a lengthy voyage that the Micronesians have been doing for 2500-years. When they failed to arrive after a few days, they were reported to the Coast Guard as missing.
Facing miserable sea conditions with 10-foot waves making visibility of a small boat particularly difficult, the USCGC MIDGET (WMSL-757) and assorted helicopters were instantly launched searching over 14,000 square miles. Keen spotters aboard the cutter found the family after a three-day hunt. The trio was hungry but in excellent condition otherwise. Truly, this is an amazing example of the characteristic actions of the Coast Guard.
The Merry-Go-Round in the Pentagon continues ejecting top officials, and this time it was the Secretary of the Navy, John Phelan, who refused to acquiesce to the whims of the Department of War’s Secretary Pete Hegseth, who recently fired the Army’s Chief of Staff, the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, and the Commandant of the Coast Guard. Exactly what is going on at the Five-sided Building of Wonderment is anyone’s guess, and the media proffers as many reasons as there are firings.
Earlier this year, the U.S. Naval Proceedings featured an article about the impact of Global Warming on the Navy. The officers discussed the rising temperature of surface water and its impact on ships’ hulls. Perhaps more importantly, the temperature has impacted a myriad of high-technology systems, including sonar, radar, and underwater signals.
The Navy medical personnel who had been expertly trained in cold climate operations are now being trained in significant heat environments. Carrier crews have experienced critical problems with sailor heat exhaustion, lethargy, and illness, especially on carriers sailing in the Middle East. The Service also noted that Climate Change has severely altered the number and intensity of oceanic storms. Historians remember the loss of two destroyers and hundreds of crew when caught in a hurricane during WWII, as Admiral Bill Halsey ignored meteorologists’ warnings
SAIL magazine prints an annual edition about pontoons, and being a pontoon owner, I peruse it faithfully, wondering where I went wrong in life (don’t ask my wife). My concept of pontoon ownership means leisurely runs up and down the river or around one of the man-made lakes in Eastern Iowa. Such a voyage involves music, food, drink, and lots of conversation with the guests that usually ends with a bar visit near the docks. Not so for those subject to SAIL.
The Balise Halo 260 featuring twin Mercury 400s for her 26’ length and 8’6” beam that is insanely quiet due to Geometric Reinforced Design (GRID) chassis, and ably controlled with 2-12’ touchscreens for your GPS, audio, lighting, and about 2 zillion other electronic doohickeys. Able to attain super speeds, this beauty can be yours for a mere $425,000.
The ever-popular Bennington 27 QXSBWAT2 is available for those more cash-strapped but can handle a measly $408,000, replete with twin Yamaha 350 motors that push this fun craft at 60 mph using 60 gallons per hour or about 1 mile per gallon for that 100-mile range. Exactly why one would desire 60 mph on a pontoon is beyond me. But what do I know?
My GREYBRIAR SunTracker Party Barge cost about $25,000 with a 50 hp Mercury motor that can be pulled easily by my Subaru Outback. Since I drift along slowly because the Cedar River navigable depth is only about 3 miles long, I have no idea how much gas I use since I only filled the tank twice last summer. The audio system is tuned to KCCK, a jazz channel, or I plug in the iPod and speaker to listen to Peter, Paul, and Mary. I typically drink a bottle of water and a Diet Coke with my candy bar before finishing up at the Tic Toc with a small brandy.
For anyone near the Tampa/St. Pete area, please patronize Pass A Grille Marina. The kind people were nice enough to give a T-shirt for stopping by last February. They have supplies, parts, service, and both wet slips and indoor dry slips. I also have one of their coolies for my beer. Good people. Visit them at 1901 Pass A Grille Way in St. Pete Beach, 33706.
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