Sail the Seas, There’s nothing but Adventure
When you take a look at the islands today, what you see (for better or for worse) stems from the work of British sailor, Captain James Cook. Today’s Hawai’i is the impact that Captain Cooks voyage, his voyages impacted the world and heavily shaped the future of the Hawaiian Islands by opening the Hawai’i’s doors to the European world. Captain Cook went on three voyages after fighting in the seven years’ war; he was recognized for having great surveying and navigation skills while serving in the war. As a result Cook was appointed by the Royal Society to go and voyage and navigate certain parts of the ocean and with each voyage he impacted the world in some way, the biggest impact being the first …show more content…
“One notable example occurred during the circumnavigation undertaken by Commodore Anson.” (Richardson 33) During his circumnavigation “he encountered a storm that lasted almost two months, trapping the ships in a strait.” (Richardson 33) They eventually made it to the latitude of Juan Fernandez, “The problem was that no one knew whether the island was to the east or to the west, and in Open Ocean there were no landmarks to help guide them.” (Richardson 33) What eventually happened was they “chose to head out to the west, but after four days they sighted no land and so turned around and headed east. Two days later they sighted land, which turned out to be an inaccessible part of Chile. The ship turned around and headed westward again, and finally landed on Juan Fernandez” (Richardson 33). While sailing lost for two weeks “an additional eighty of Anson’s men died” (Richardson 33). Past navigators “seldom gave the longitude and when they did it were usually little more than a guess” Richardson 34). Captain Cook was known for criticizing the longitude of past navigators, even the ones that sailed right before him. What he backed up himself up with these criticisms was that he measured longitude accurately. While on his second voyage Cook used the voyage as an opportunity to test the two primary methods of determining longitude. What he got from this was not simply determining …show more content…
The problem during the time was “extreme places had never been so extensively described, in part because no ship had tried to spend so much time so far south” (Richardson 50) Cook took on the challenge and his ships were “the first ships to do so at a leisurely pace” (Richardson 50). While “sailing in and out of the Antarctic circle and finally running into a pack of ice” (Richardson 50) this was when he “could not proceed further south” (Richardson 50) he showed that by sailing in “The Antarctic, which is the epitome of the extreme place in his world, provides both the dangers and the successes that are necessary to constitute Cook as the explorer who pushed exploration to its limits” (Richardson 50). While in these adverse conditions “scurvy began to occur and was controlled by various antiscorbutics” (Richardson 51). This demonstrates how Cook kept his men alive while sailing because scurvy was a big problem during this time. By sailing to the Antarctic “Cook had taken his ship as far south as humanly possible to demonstrate that there was no accessible land at the edges of the world” (Richardson 52). By doing this “Cook marked the edge of the possibilities of navigation” (Richardson
When you take a look at the islands today, what you see (for better or for worse) stems from the work of British sailor, Captain James Cook. Today’s Hawai’i is the impact that Captain Cooks voyage, his voyages impacted the world and heavily shaped the future of the Hawaiian Islands by opening the Hawai’i’s doors to the European world. Captain Cook went on three voyages after fighting in the seven years’ war; he was recognized for having great surveying and navigation skills while serving in the war. As a result Cook was appointed by the Royal Society to go and voyage and navigate certain parts of the ocean and with each voyage he impacted the world in some way, the biggest impact being the first …show more content…
“One notable example occurred during the circumnavigation undertaken by Commodore Anson.” (Richardson 33) During his circumnavigation “he encountered a storm that lasted almost two months, trapping the ships in a strait.” (Richardson 33) They eventually made it to the latitude of Juan Fernandez, “The problem was that no one knew whether the island was to the east or to the west, and in Open Ocean there were no landmarks to help guide them.” (Richardson 33) What eventually happened was they “chose to head out to the west, but after four days they sighted no land and so turned around and headed east. Two days later they sighted land, which turned out to be an inaccessible part of Chile. The ship turned around and headed westward again, and finally landed on Juan Fernandez” (Richardson 33). While sailing lost for two weeks “an additional eighty of Anson’s men died” (Richardson 33). Past navigators “seldom gave the longitude and when they did it were usually little more than a guess” Richardson 34). Captain Cook was known for criticizing the longitude of past navigators, even the ones that sailed right before him. What he backed up himself up with these criticisms was that he measured longitude accurately. While on his second voyage Cook used the voyage as an opportunity to test the two primary methods of determining longitude. What he got from this was not simply determining …show more content…
The problem during the time was “extreme places had never been so extensively described, in part because no ship had tried to spend so much time so far south” (Richardson 50) Cook took on the challenge and his ships were “the first ships to do so at a leisurely pace” (Richardson 50). While “sailing in and out of the Antarctic circle and finally running into a pack of ice” (Richardson 50) this was when he “could not proceed further south” (Richardson 50) he showed that by sailing in “The Antarctic, which is the epitome of the extreme place in his world, provides both the dangers and the successes that are necessary to constitute Cook as the explorer who pushed exploration to its limits” (Richardson 50). While in these adverse conditions “scurvy began to occur and was controlled by various antiscorbutics” (Richardson 51). This demonstrates how Cook kept his men alive while sailing because scurvy was a big problem during this time. By sailing to the Antarctic “Cook had taken his ship as far south as humanly possible to demonstrate that there was no accessible land at the edges of the world” (Richardson 52). By doing this “Cook marked the edge of the possibilities of navigation” (Richardson