Título: Christopher Columbus
Seção: Nautical considerations
Background: The name Christopher Columbus is the Anglicisation of the Latin Christophorus Columbus. His name in Ligurian is Cristoffa Conbo, in Italian Cristoforo Colombo and in Spanish Cristobal Colon. He was born before 31 October 1451 in the territory of the Republic of Genoa (now part of modern Italy), though the exact location remains disputed. His father was Domenico Colombo, a middle-class wool weaver who worked both in Genoa and Savona and who also owned a cheese stand at which young Christopher worked as a helper.

Conteúdo: Though Columbus was wrong about the number of degrees of longitude that separated Europe from the Far East and about the distance that each degree represented, he did possess valuable knowledge about the trade winds, which would prove to be the key to his successful navigation of the Atlantic Ocean. During his first voyage in 1492, the brisk trade winds from the east, commonly called "easterlies", propelled Columbus's fleet for five weeks, from the Canary Islands to The Bahamas. The precise first land sighting and landing point was San Salvador Island. To return to Spain against this prevailing wind would have required several months of an arduous sailing technique, called beating, during which food and drinkable water would probably have been exhausted. Instead, Columbus returned home by following the curving trade winds northeastward to the middle latitudes of the North Atlantic, where he was able to catch the "westerlies" that blow eastward to the coast of Western Europe. There, in turn, the winds curve southward towards the Iberian Peninsula. It is unclear whether Columbus learned about the winds from his own sailing experience or if he had heard about them from others. The corresponding technique for efficient travel in the Atlantic appears to have been exploited first by the Portuguese, who referred to it as the Volta do mar ("turn of the sea"). Columbus's knowledge of the Atlantic wind patterns was, however, imperfect at the time of his first voyage. By sailing directl

user: What are some nautical considerations of Columbus?

assistant: Though Columbus was wrong about the number of degrees of longitude that separated Europe from the Far East and about the distance that each degree represented,

user: What was he right about in terms of nautical considerations?

assistant: he did possess valuable knowledge about the trade winds, which would prove to be the key to his successful navigation of the Atlantic Ocean.

user: How did some of his real life voyages go?

assistant: During his first voyage in 1492, the brisk trade winds from the east, commonly called "easterlies", propelled Columbus's fleet for five weeks, from the Canary Islands to The Bahamas.

user: Did anything else happen during that voyage?

assistant: To return to Spain against this prevailing wind would have required several months of an arduous sailing technique,

user: Was San Salvador Island known for anything historically important?

assistant: CANNOTANSWER

user: Did anything else happen in the first voyage in 1492?

assistant: arduous sailing technique, called beating, during which food and drinkable water would probably have been exhausted.