Status Updates From Christopher Columbus: Acros...

Jury mast- Main mast snapped, jury mast built with a spare yardarm.

Becalmed- Dead in the water, no wind, no movement from the sea, unmoving

The third island's natives, Fernandina, had an invention Columbus thought ingenious. Amaca = Hammock. It would be perfect for the sailors who until then slept on the decks of the ship.

'One meal a day was served aboard ship at 11:00 AM. It was cooked over a bed of hot sand in a firebox on deck and consisted mostly of salt meat, dried peas, and hardtack'

Only Columbus and the captains of the respective ships had sleeping quarters. All the sailors and other officers had to find a random place on ship, usually the main deck, to bed down.

One of the cabin boy's jobs was to flip the hour glass every hour, night and day, and make a note for each hour that passed. This way, the captain or whoever was in charge could know the time of day or night.

The 'Nina', 'Pinta', and 'Santa Maria' all had their tiller one deck below the top deck. Meaning, the one steering the boat couldn't see where they were going. They had to rely on the captain, or the one shouting down orders, to know where and how to go.

1492- All Jews were banished from Spain

Prester John?

Dead-reckoning = Navigational and nautical term

St. Brendan- Irish monk who sailed West

Rhumb lines on map

1434

Cathay= China

Cipangu= Japan

Columbus didn't learn to read until 25 yrs old. He taught himself to read and write Portuguese, Castilian, and Latin. He also learned to speak them.

The language he grew up speaking had no written form, Genoese, even if he'd had parents who saw reading as important.

Columbus didn't go on his first voyage until 25 years old, as a normal seaman. The ship he sailed on sank, after an attack from pirates. He managed to make it to a shore, longing to try and sail again.

Good reader's note at the beginning.