Pickering seems to be sensitive to these issues (without seeming to mention them) as he has an entire page in which he discusses the Earth's magnetic field, judging at the end of that discussion that the Plana Cays location has been scientifically proved. And yet, the island doesn't come close to matching Columbus' description. :')Columbus Was A Latitude SailorThe extreme accuracy difference between LS and DR derives entirely from the ways compass errors are monitored because these navigation methods are otherwise identical on an east-west course. Either system would simply have accumulated the distances made good on each westerly heading. The DR pilot, however, might have detected compass variations by noting azimuth-angle deviations from Polaris, a measurement most easily made in the full darkness of midnight. In contrast, the LS pilot would have detected the integrated effect of compass variation by noting elevation-angle deviations of Polaris and the circumpolar stars, a measurement made during the brief twilight interval when the star and horizon are both visible. (Note that each of Columbus's three recorded compass checks occurred during either evening or morning twilights, as required by LS, rather than at the midnight preference for DR.)
by Arne B. Molander
Summer 1990
Encounters: A Quincentenary Review
Molander may be deceased, I'm not sure. In any case, he's often cruised the Caribbean, and compared Columbus' log with the actual currently available possibilities. I note "currently" because of the volcanic activity in the Caribbean, which could alter the landscape directly (eruption) or indirectly (tsunami).Cruising Guide to the Abacos and the Northern BahamasAdvocates of the Northern Route -- based on the premise that Columbus used latitude sailing to maintain a due west Atlantic crossing -- have long been held that Columbus left his first footprints on the beaches of Egg Island at the northwest corner of Eleuthera... [S]ail east-northeast from Harbour Island about six nights after a full moon. When you reach a location six miles east of Man Island at 2 a.m., the moon should be high enough to reflect off Eleuthera's surf, just as it did for Columbus' lookout 500 years off... coast cautiously along northern Eleuthera's reef into the Northeast Providence Channel. On your way you'll note three important landfall features unique to Eleuthera are Harbour Island's entrance, the shallows behind it, and the equally spaced triple cusps on the north coast of Royal Island. At first light you should keep an eye out for the same benthic (bottom-growing) seaweed Columbus "found in the gulf when he arrived at his discovery". There is no gulf at either Watlings or Samana Cay. When you reach the end of Eleuthera's reef shortly after dawn you will see Columbus's first lee anchorage opportunity southwest of Egg Island. Now you can begin following 30 features uniquely matching descriptions Columbus himself recorded in his Journal of Discovery.
by Arne B. Molander
Pelican Power
Revised: February 22, 2002
George W. Bush will be reelected by a margin of at least ten per cent
The Watling Island/Samana Cay debate is an interesting one. Back in the 1980's, National Geographic suggested (IIRC)Samana Cay and the Smithsonian proposed Watling. Could the shorelines of the islands have changed so much in five centuries that the "bays" no longer exist but once did?
judging at the end of that discussion that the Plana Cays location has been scientifically proved.
I wouldn't say "proved"; just better supported by scientific evidence than other theories.
And yet, the island doesn't come close to matching Columbus' description. :')
Sure it does. In fact, every single island in the Bahamas comes close to matching CC's description: green, flat, surrounded by a reef, and with a large pond in the middle. Sounds very specific, until you actually try to rule out a Bahamaian island on that basis -- and find that you can't.
Molander may be deceased, I'm not sure.
Still alive, but quite infirm nowadays.
In any case, he's often cruised the Caribbean, and compared Columbus' log with the actual currently available possibilities.
As have Beecher, Morison, Roukema, Marden, Judge, Dunwoody, Peck, Verhoog, and many others -- who have reached no consensus.
I note "currently" because of the volcanic activity in the Caribbean, which could alter the landscape directly (eruption) or indirectly (tsunami).
No volcanic activity at all in the Bahamas. And although hurricanes and storms might affect some coastal features, such as beaches, there is one thing that remains constant even after 500 years: islands cannot move. Therefore, the most reliable indicators we have about the landfall are the distances and directions between islands (plus the lengths of coastlines) as reported by CC in his log. In evaluating these indicators, Egg Island does only average -- although where it fails, it fails miserably (distance to Cape Verde fix, distance from IV to I). Those theories that use Crooked/Acklins as Island II (Plana, Samana and Mayaguana) are way ahead of the pack.
judging at the end of that discussion that the Plana Cays location has been scientifically proved.
I wouldn't say "proved"; just better supported by scientific evidence than other theories.
And yet, the island doesn't come close to matching Columbus' description. :')
Sure it does. In fact, every single island in the Bahamas comes close to matching CC's description: green, flat, surrounded by a reef, and with a large pond in the middle. Sounds very specific, until you actually try to rule out a Bahamaian island on that basis -- and find that you can't.
Molander may be deceased, I'm not sure.
Still alive, but quite infirm nowadays.
In any case, he's often cruised the Caribbean, and compared Columbus' log with the actual currently available possibilities.
As have Beecher, Morison, Roukema, Marden, Judge, Dunwoody, Peck, Verhoog, and many others -- who have reached no consensus.
I note "currently" because of the volcanic activity in the Caribbean, which could alter the landscape directly (eruption) or indirectly (tsunami).
No volcanic activity at all in the Bahamas. And although hurricanes and storms might affect some coastal features, such as beaches, there is one thing that remains constant even after 500 years: islands cannot move. Therefore, the most reliable indicators we have about the landfall are the distances and directions between islands (plus the lengths of coastlines) as reported by CC in his log. In evaluating these indicators, Egg Island does only average -- although where it fails, it fails miserably (distance to Cape Verde fix, distance from IV to I). Those theories that use Crooked/Acklins as Island II (Plana, Samana and Mayaguana) are way ahead of the pack.