Posted on 09/24/2022 10:12:58 PM PDT by SunkenCiv
...At Dyrrhachium in what is now Albania, Caesar attacked Pompey's supply base on the coast of the Adriatic Sea. Because of the vagaries of the wind, Caesar sent supply ships to several destinations across the Mediterranean Sea to ensure his own troops could be fed and outfitted in the coming campaign...
An Israeli researcher... studied wind patterns and ancient texts about the weather. And then he did something more unusual. He and a team of experts built a replica of a 5th century B.C. boat and sailed it across part of the Mediterranean to test his theory...
In addition, by examining Roman and Greek texts about the weather, he discovered that those breeze cycles are virtually unchanged over the past three millennia.
Gal said the sailors' lives depended on anticipating weather patterns, so they knew when to begin a journey and when to find a safe port. They often waited days before catching the right winds to begin or resume travel...
The second phase of the study involved understanding the weather. In addition to reading 3,000-year-old texts, Gal reviewed modern records of the winds and waves around the Mediterranean. He collected data points from 7,000 different locations, taken every hour over the past 15 years...
Gal found that ancient vessels were able to locate brief breezes blowing to the west that usually occurred in the early mornings and late evenings. Those light airflows would enable the ships to sail for a short time toward Rome. Once the winds stalled, the crews would drop anchor and wait until they started again.
(Excerpt) Read more at stripes.com ...
Seventy-five years.
“Done already like 50 yrs ago with Kontiki.”
75 years ago in 1947. An incredible voyage. Thor Heyerdahl could not swim.
This is exactly what I will be doing if my numbers ever hit!! Though mine will be a close replica of the ship design of The Wicked Wench... Aka the Black Pearl... All automated to be crewed by a minimum of 3 or 4...
Head south from FLA island hopping then to panama canal then due west... doubtful Hawaii would ever be a stop, but Tahiti and Fiji are definitely on the list before heading north west for Asia...
Good work. Now build a replica of a Phoenician ship and see if you can cross the Atlantic.
That apparent weather doohicky in the stern is slightly anachronic but if I were manning that ship, I’d take that over authenticity. Wonder if the lines are clearly differentiated from the stays (smile)! At least there wont be any calls to loose the top-gallants or such.
While true, worse would be Scylla & Charybdis! Ancient or not, the sea (any sea) has dangers for any sailor who ignores the rocks & shoals! Any modern vessel can find itself caught in a Neptune trap. See the last voyage of the SS Concordia!
Four years in the US Navy and I had to look up “top-gallants”. LOL.
I’m also gonna bet there’s a 50hp outboard hidden in the hold...just in case.
I hope they raped and plundered fake communities too for the full understanding.
If so, I think Odysseus would be highly approving! "A practical man was he!"
All those who go down to the sea learn that the sea is a real revolving b**** (rhymes with witch) and safety is not to be ignored at any time! Did a cruise liner trip several years back and was shocked at how some passengers had to be chased down to take part in the lifeboat drill! Later in the trip across the North Atlantic, we hit a squall and I had my small balcony well decorated with flotsam, including plastic debris.
Thank you for your service in the USN.
Now if you had done any time on the USS Eagle (Coast Guard Bark) or USS Constitution (Frigate), you would have been more likely to recognize that 'Top-gallant' designation. Sailing is a great experience to learn the sea and its quirks. I presume it is one (of many) reasons that Annapolis drills its Middies on small sail boats, to give that touch of life, even in those sheltered waters of the Chesapeake estuary.
The area believed ti give rise to the Scylla and Charybdis myth.
So, the breeze cycles have remained unchanged for 3000 years.
The bronze age collapse happened about 3200 years ago.
I wonder there were any significant changes that contributed to the collapse by disrupting trade in 1177 BC.
I DID spend a brief time on the USS Constitution! About an hour...with the wife (at the exhibit in Boston). We even sprung for one of the American flags offered for sale by a couple of Sailors and Marines. A Marine Sergeant instructed my wife as to how to raise the flag up the mast...which she proceeded to do as I videoed. After lowering the flag, the Sergeant crisply folded it into the traditional tri-corner shape, as the wife held the other end.
I know that boat has been rebuilt from stem to stern, from the tip of the mast to, probably, below the waterline, but that tickled me to board her.
Plus, an American flag that has flown from Old Ironsides currently resides on our fireplace mantle!
Pillage!
It’ll come in handy in a couple of months on those YT channels that insist that ships and planes have vanished for decades (or in this case, millennia) and suddenly reappeared.
Kontiki was 75 years ago. The Ra Expeditions were a bit more than 50 years ago. The Tigris Expedition was about 45 years ago.
I watched the RA movie in the theater. It was fun because it proved Murphy’s law applied even back in ancient Egypt.
Yup. Cargo capacity and cost per mile was much better (no animals to feed, no wheels or axles to break), and range was enormous, and of course the speed of transit was great (’round the clock).
https://freerepublic.com/focus/chat/3985128/posts
Sounds great!
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