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Ancient Ships seaworthyness
On Sep. 6, 1522 the Spanish ship Victoria of the Magellan exposition
completed the first circumnavigation of the Earth. It even managed to
sail thousands of miles of open sea.
IIRC it is possible to circumnavigate the Earth and never get more than
2300 miles from land, the stretch between Easter Island and South
America, the next largest stretch is less than 1900 miles between the
Pitcairn Islands and Easter Island. Otherwise one can rermain much
closer to land. Was the Victoria the first ship capable of sailing
around the world had the crew known what to do? I wonder when the first
ships seaworthworthy enough to do so were built?It seems to me the hardest part for the best ships of two thousand
years ago would be the stretch from Brazil around the horn to the
Pitcairn Islands. Were any of the ships that ancient seaworthy enough
to do so? |
john0714
Jan 20
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| I'm sure there were. I mean, If a cobbled raft (KonTiki) could sail the
Pacific, and Vikings could weather the North Atlantic in big row boats
with partial wind power, I'm sure somebody could come up with something
to navigate the "Horns" of S. America and Africa.
john0714 wrote: |
Tim
Jan 20
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| Yeah, you have to better define what you're requirements would be. Getting
a lone man across the ocean isn't a big deal, as Heyerdahl proved in
Kon-Tiki. Getting a full crew and gear suitable for exploring and trade
with locals is another matter entirely. |
Bill
Jan 20
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| I believe if you move from Eurocentered history you will find many
examples of open ocean voyages. Though the documentation may not be as
good. Examples are Chinese visits to the America's west coast prior to 1492.
(There is some indication that they were in the Atlantic.) The
colonization voyages of the pacific islands, etc. After reading many books for many years I believe the seafaring
capabilities of early sailor and their accomplishments are greatly
underrated. I have come to think of the early sailors as the truck
drivers of their times. |
Keith
Jan 21
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| Columbus may have had charts of parts of the Americas. The fisherman had
followed the birds and fish for years, so there was a lot of knowledge. The
Norsemen had a colony in Nova Scotia area for awhile. Friend just did the
Europe to the Americas rally with ARC
http://arc.worldcruising.com/en/dailylog.asp?chte_id=844&selected_date=2+Dec+2006
is one of the entries I googled up. They had not problems but did have a
watermaker and motor for generating power when needed. This was a 46' boat. |
Calif
Jan 21
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