Great Voyages

[pabrides]

I had a dream last night that my crew and I were sailing into dangerous waters.  My neighbor's chickens woke me up so I didnt find out what happened,  but it made me think of the great voyages of discovery during the sailing ship era.

If you had a chance to go back in time to witness one of those great voyages, which would it be?

What would you say to Cook, or Magellan,  or Darwin, Columbus,  Ericson,  or a hundred other voyagers?  Would you even want to be a sailor during those times.  If you do then what would you prefer; whalers, china tea cutters, general merchants, Navy ships, or something else like a British barge or a pirate ship.

I think I would have enjoyed the china tea runs or perhaps a coastal merchant.  If I was to witness some great adventure it might be Darwin on the beagle, or one of the polar expeditions.  

It almost goes without saying though that I wouldnt want to work as an ordinary seaman.  I'd have to be a mate or navigator or captain or better yet - owner.

Anyway, I'd be interested in your perspective.

Cheers

[P.Rutherford]

Now that's very interesting and a good series of questions.

Recently I read, "Over the Edge of the World" by Laurence Bergreen.  It's about Magellan's circumnavigation (he got murdered in the Philippines).  The story is beyond compare and legends can't equal it.  Mutiny, hardships, awful weather, shipwrecks and no comforts.  The transit of the  Strait of Magellan (as we call it today) was horrific.  Think of it- these crews had no electricity, no engines and no accurate idea of where they were longitudinally....but they made it!

Another book was "The Last Voyage of Columbus" by Martin Dugard.  These men were beyond courageous and heroic.  So many troubles with crew members and deprivations.

On a comic side of things, I would have wanted to be a whale like Moby Dick and certainly would seek to send the HMS Beagle to the bottom. So much for that Darwin guy.  Please excuse my difference of opinion.

For a voyage I would have loved to be with Amundsen on his trip to Antarctica and The South Pole aboard the Fram (which means "forward" in Norwegian).  Or with him in the transit of The Northwest Passage aboard the Gjoa.

But, I'd really love to have had tickets for the return trip of The Titanic from the US to England.  (that's supposed to be funny).

....or with these guys- At least we tried..

Paul

[pabrides]

Great video, Paul... I split my sides watching it - made me thirsty.

Yeah, Darwin is much taken out of context so no worries there... my faith in god is not shaken.  what shakes my faith sometimes are underdressed hotties at the beach... lol

BTW... I live on the island where Magellan was killed. He's no hero in this part of the world. There is a shrine to the man who killed Magellan - King Lapu-Lapu. There's a nice park here with a mural depicting the fight in which Magellan got toasted. Locals say it was the first Filipino stand against European aggression... for what it's worth.

Thanks for the reply.  Interesting thinking.
Cheers