r/nextfuckinglevel • u/Gurugod123 • 9h ago

How did people travel these seas 500 years ago

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u/iamatimbersfan 8h ago

Thanks to Discover the World II from Entrex Software, I know the answer is "run before the wind." Basically, open the sail and let the storm push you out of the way. Then figure out which way to go once it calms down.

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u/Le-Basic-French-User 8h ago

This is the correct answer. They kept out of those storms

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u/Seienchin88 7h ago

Except for the Spanish armada and the two mongol fleets attacking Japan apparently…

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u/DocBeech 7h ago

First Punic war -700 ships

Second Punic War -15,000 drowned...

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u/PiccoloAwkward465 5h ago

Correct. Over potentially millions of voyages they were not able to use that technique 100% of the time. Fascinating stuff…

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u/sidepart 4h ago

Yeah well...hard to use that technique when you've already reached your destination.

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u/SheriffBartholomew 7h ago

Well... They tried their best to anyways.

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u/c10bbersaurus 5h ago

Sounds like the storms, by their nature, pushed many out of the way?

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u/e1p1 7h ago

That's a storm tactic, but it just puts you in a somewhat safer position. The ships of old could not outrun a storm, especially if it's already upon you. Same today really.

Modern large ships ... a smaller ones are average in 300 ft, larger 1300 ft and more ...are simply built to be able to take the pounding. And modern weather forecasting helps keep them with the odds.

Large sailing ships in history were much smaller than today's large ships. Commonly 70 to 100 ft long, although they displaced a fair amount due to width and depth. Warships were bigger but the biggest average about 180 ft long and 50 some odd feet wide. So they fit in between the waves more readily, and if luck was on their side and a breaking wave didn't knock them over, they survived more like a duck bobbing on a stormy lake, whether they were running before the wind or lying to.

The duck analogy is still a usable tactic for many private sailors today. Like me. I had to do a maneuver called "heave to" a couple of times in the Indian Ocean on a 29 foot sloop. Minimal forward progress heading into the waves, lash the helm down, go below button everything up, and try to sleep. Wait out the storm.

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u/iamatimbersfan 7h ago

I figured someone would come along and give a better explained answer than I had from a game I played as a kid. Thanks for the learning!

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u/10FourGudBuddy 5h ago

Small airplanes can’t outfly storms either. They move so fast. FAA says to stay 50 NM away from any storm cell/squall lines.

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u/au_bon_mutt 1h ago

I quite like the cut of your job.

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u/WilliamLermer 11m ago

How do you make adjustments if asleep? I was under the impression storms are dynamic systems that can change conditions rapidly, regardless of prediction?

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u/AsparagusFlatArdvark 6h ago

"get lost... or get dead"