NavList:
A Community Devoted to the Preservation and Practice of Celestial Navigation and Other Methods of Traditional Wayfinding
Re: Portuguese shipwreck question
From: George Huxtable
Date: 2009 Oct 29, 23:43 -0000
From: George Huxtable
Date: 2009 Oct 29, 23:43 -0000
John Huth ("Apache Runner") wrote, about early Portuguese exploration- In the article, there's a map that shows a route taken | by their ships around Western Africa, and it swings quite wide. I don't | know if the vessels were typically lateen rigged or square rigged, but I was | impressed how far west the route goes near the equator. There's a strong | equatorial current in that region, and of course the Trades. Naively I | might have thought they would hug the coast, but I could see some logic in a | course that swings far west, particularly if the vessels couldn't sail close | to the wind. I'm thinking mainly about the latitudes south of the Canaries | and crossing the equator. In the case where the vessels swing to the west, | there have been assertions that storm-blown vessels made landfall in what is | now Brazil. Vessels didn't just reach Brazil by accident of weather. That became the well-travelled route for sailing vessels from Europe to the East, via the Canaries, Cape Verde Islands, across the Atlantic to Brazil (Fernando de Noronha or Recife) , then Southward and Eastward across the South Atlantic, to pass Cape of Good Hope on a latitude line. It was the standard route well into the 20th century, for square-rig vessels.| John continued- I do know that Columbus, on his third voyage, had in the back of his mind | the notion from Don Joao of Portugal the idea that there was a continent | between Europe and Asia, which leads some credence to my colleague's | assertion. The first vessel to make that passage, as far as I'm aware, was Cabral, in 1500; though of course there may have been others who failed to get into the history books. However this didn't precede Columbus' first Atlantic crossing; it was 8 years after it. George contact George Huxtable, at george@hux.me.uk or at +44 1865 820222 (from UK, 01865 820222) or at 1 Sandy Lane, Southmoor, Abingdon, Oxon OX13 5HX, UK. --~--~---------~--~----~------------~-------~--~----~ NavList message boards: www.fer3.com/arc Or post by email to: NavList@fer3.com To , email NavList+@fer3.com -~----------~----~----~----~------~----~------~--~---