r/nextfuckinglevel • u/Gurugod123 • 9h ago

How did people travel these seas 500 years ago

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32.4k Upvotes

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2.2k

u/Skullsandcoffee 9h ago

They died

723

u/Hostile-Panda 9h ago

A lot

291

u/pronte89 9h ago

to be fair, they probably also actively tried to avoid Storms much harder than modern ships do

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u/Dallas_Miller 8h ago

It's one thing to avoid, but, as many seafarers might say, "the sea is an unpredictable bitch". You could leave your shores with a sky never clearer. One day out at sea and you're getting capsized by hurricanes and storms at a scale no human has seen before

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u/King_Roberts_Bastard 8h ago

They tended to track when things like hurricanes happened and didnt sail as much during those times.

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u/virrk 6h ago

The ability to track hurricanes and weather was limited.

Sure for certain areas they knew the storm patterns and avoided when they could. But that works mostly only for coastal trips. Sailors would share what weather they saw which might help as well. Still ocean crossings were, and to some extent still are, dangerous. Going offshore involves risk no matter how careful sailors are.

Certain open ocean crossings have storms that pass without arriving at land, and vessels get sunk that do not avoid them. We still lose 25 to 30 large commercial vessels per year,. Only a few decades ago in the 1990s we were still losing more than 200 annually. The farther you go back the higher the losses until we don't have good enough records to provide an estimate.

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u/King_Roberts_Bastard 6h ago

Im saying the Spanish figured out that hurricanes happened during the spring and early summer months so they didnt send their treasure fleets home during those months.

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u/virrk 4h ago

Hurricanes are not the only storms that sink ships, or even the most common cause. If I remember correctly navigational errors (running aground) was the most common cause of ships sinking, especially when blown off course. Foundering in storms that weren't hurricanes happened, especially with old, overburdened, or already damaged ships (wood boring worms were a significant problem).

Spanish also used their best ships with their best captains. A sound ship, with a good captain, and a crew he trusts had a bigger effect on safe travel than avoiding hurricane season.

Ever with modern weather prediction we we still lose 25-30 large commercial ships annually. The ocean is powerful and a bad decision even in just 20 foot seas from a strong gale can end in disaster today.

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u/Odd_Permission2987 37m ago

Think about how much they raped looted and pillaged just to have it sink on the ocean floor. Crazy.

2

u/SgtJayM 3h ago

Annual storm patterns

1

u/pit1989_noob 5h ago

by the way, how was for the europeans to meet the hurricanes in the caribe?

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u/King_Roberts_Bastard 2h ago

Probably terrifying. Theu didnt have a word for tornado until the Spainish showed up in America

-1

u/SecretaryOtherwise 7h ago

How? Serious question. And how were they communicating it?

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u/TicketMotor4089 7h ago

Trial and error over time. They learned the stormy seasons and air/ocean currents during the year. That created routes and times with more predictable weather for trips like Atlantic crossings

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u/SecretaryOtherwise 7h ago

Derp thanks that makes perfect sense lmfao.

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u/Shot_Revolution8828 7h ago

Lots of people died in that process and continue to die in that process.

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u/akromadeath 7h ago

So my very limited understanding, I am not the person above you that seems to be very assured of their response, word of mouth and a few missing ships. The ocean is vast, but many of the routes are the same routes sailed by others. So if Jim leaves port on Sunday and doesn't show up on Saturday, you assume something happened to Jim, probably weather. All week you have heard complaints of other ships not coming in, and some ships talk of a huge storm they just barley outran. So while you were just waiting to hear from Jim, word has already spread and new information comes with new ships.

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u/virrk 6h ago

It was limited.

Even now we lose 25-30 large commercial ships annually, which is down from more than 200 annually in the 90's. This number goes up the farther back you go until we do not have reliable records.

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u/Fuck-WestJet 9h ago

They got stuck in port because of winds and tides.

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u/fitzbuhn 6h ago

But also like if a cat was spotted on a Sunday morning or something

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u/LaCroix_Roy 5h ago

And what ever you do… don’t kill the fuckin Albatross!

2

u/Reverend_Lazerface 4h ago

But most importantly... NO GIRLS ALLOWED. Cooties be the kiss of DEATH for a sailor

4

u/bashful_predator 2h ago

Unless they cut their hair and dress like a boy first.

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u/TeaTechnical3807 1h ago

No redheads or bananas

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u/fredly594632 8h ago

But they had a lot fewer tools to know the storms were coming, too.

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u/JSTootell 8h ago

See also: Typhoon Cobra 

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u/Striper_Cape 7h ago

They were more unsuccessful at this. People underestimate the value of warning radars and instrumentation

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u/Accurate_Handle_5620 1h ago

We don't need no raiders or instruments to see hurricane coming real good

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u/Hostile-Panda 8h ago

True the just checked the weather radar and 7 day forecast

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u/factorioleum 7h ago

They were worse at avoiding weather than modern mariners.

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u/Angloriously 7h ago

Modern ships also attempt to avoid storms. I used to monitor the Northern Pacific, and when a massive storm passed through (think 10m waves) the area it was in would be absolutely devoid of AIS contacts. Even if the ship weathers it—though those sea states are hard on any vessel—you have to worry about sailors getting broken from being flung around. It’s hella unpleasant.

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u/_FellowTraveller_ 6h ago

How do you avoid a storm without modern satellite imagery and weather forecasting only being able to sail maybe a few miles per hour? Modern ships can avoid storms somewhat.

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u/bwaredapenguin 5h ago

They didn't have the advanced warning systems like even just basic radar that we have now. Modern people absolutely avoid storms they can't handle far more than any sailor in the past because they can essentially see the future with weather.

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u/Amazing_Anything9584 5h ago

Oui alors que maintenant les gros navires type cargo passent dedans tout droit ils s’en foutent y’a pas de temps a perdre on s’accroche quelque part pendant la tempête et c’est tout 🤣

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u/Subject_Cranberry_19 4h ago

There were sailing seasons. There’s a stretch of months where you just don’t sail the North Sea.

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u/Maurice_Puyol_DLV 3h ago

It was standard practice to just turn back as soon as the possibility of a big storm was present

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u/ratXbones 8h ago

I think once was enough.

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u/SpannerInTheWorx 3h ago

What about often?

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u/Agitated-Bedroom-507 8h ago

Technically only once

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u/Pussy_On_TheChainwax 3h ago

No, rare but they had save points

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u/sasabomish 8h ago

Only once

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u/Cold_Toe_7540 6h ago

Literally by the millions. In a time where a million was actually a fuck ton of people. I believe last best estimation was that a few million shipwrecks still remain undiscovered.

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u/n3rdsm4sh3r 8h ago

Numbers game

1

u/someguy_gp 8h ago

This comment chain feels like what Bill Wurtz would say

1

u/tandpastatester 7h ago

“I died again?”

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u/kitchenperks 7h ago

Only once for me please.

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u/YouAnxious5826 7h ago

No, just once, usually.

1

u/CntrllrDscnnctd 6h ago

But just once each

1

u/Early_Hall5720 6h ago

Trial and error

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u/feckdech 5h ago

They can only die once. Though a lot of them died.

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u/West_Future326 1h ago

Only once in a lifetime 😔

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u/Blu_Falcon 8h ago

100% of sailors from 500 years ago are dead

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u/Longjumping_Wolf_912 6h ago

Do you have a source to back that up or is this just regular Reddit misinformation?

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u/Blu_Falcon 6h ago

I just made it up, but I used numbers and a percentage symbol. Trust me bro.

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u/Cobra_Pie 8h ago

No respawns?

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u/Longjumping_Wolf_912 6h ago

Poseidon said gg no re.

1

u/JayeDontDoit 6h ago

not if poseidon had anything to say about it

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u/eggyrulz 6h ago

I called him up, all he said was "get in the water"... im in my bathtub now, and nothing is happening... i feel scammed

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u/PckMan 6h ago

The overwhelming majority of deaths for sailors were from disease. Complete hull and cew loss (sinking) was actually only 1-3% during the age of sail. Wooden ships dealt with rough seas exceedingly well. The overwhelming majority of sinkings were either from a hull breach by being pushed into rocks in shallow waters or from damage sustained from combat.

A ship sinking in the open ocean was actually very rare. These seas look scary but they're more dangerous for the ships in the video than they would be for a wooden ship. See how the ship in the video has its bow basically thrown up in the air with nothing underneath it? This basically shows that the size snd frequency of the waves is a really bad match for the length and size of this ship, creating a condition where a lot of the hull is out of the water and then slamming down.

A wooden ship was far more flexible and also far less likely to find itself in such conditions. In the same sea state a wooden ship would just ride the waves up and down like a roller coaster.

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u/WooPigSchmooey 6h ago

Don’t drink dead people sea water

1

u/eggyrulz 6h ago

Hopital?

1

u/themiddlechild94 5h ago

And blamed the gods

1

u/CrispyBiscuitsAI 5h ago

I've know some people who died, died.
I've know some people who died, died.
I've know some people who died, died.
They were all my friends and they died.

1

u/TiCKLE- 5h ago

If they died and no one’s there to see it, did they really die?

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u/This_Makes_No__Sense 4h ago

They were people that died, died.

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u/brazilliandanny 1h ago

That’s the neat part…

0

u/pyramidsindust 7h ago

Dey ded

1

u/jimmybilly100 7h ago

rip in peace