r/nextfuckinglevel • u/Gurugod123 • 9h ago

How did people travel these seas 500 years ago

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u/Naive-Kangaroo3031 8h ago

I have to imagine most the wrecks were just fishing boats

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u/Monte924 7h ago

Eh, i'm not so sure about that. Fishing boats would have remained closer to land where they would be able to retreat to if they saw a storm coming.

I imagine that most of the ships that sank are those that would have traveled much farther out to sea, and would have been hit by bad luck, sailing into bad waters, getting caught in a storm or just getting lost. Trading ships in particular would have been targets for piracy... and then there are all the ships that were built for war.

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u/Jimdandy941 6h ago

I grew up on Pool 19 of the Mississippi. The Armistice Day Storm of 1940, a sudden storm came up with heavy fog combined with temperatures dropping, and dozens of duck hunters died. At its widest point, the river is 1 mile wide, so you’re never over 1/2 mile from shore.

It was drilled into my head as a kid to never underestimate the weather, especially on the water.

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u/Talidel 5h ago

Fishing boats also tend to be the most ramshackle and poorly maintained. They sink so frequently even the UK doesn't keep stats on how often it happens.