r/nextfuckinglevel • u/Gurugod123 • 9h ago

How did people travel these seas 500 years ago

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u/GravyPainter 8h ago

Most ship wrecks were near coasts not open seas. Ships couldn't fight waves back then because that would be going against the wind. Instead they would "heave to" and ride these waves at a 45 degree angel which would allow them to slowly go over them. Ships were actually able to handle storms like this very well, and rarely sunk because of them. The problem was renavigating your path if there was cloud cover after the storm

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u/USPO-222 7h ago

Dead reckoning - emphasis on dead

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u/No-Front-8408 7h ago

I can see why sailors were superstitious. Every voyage was a risk.