[HN Gopher] How a 16th Century Explorer's Sailing Ship Works
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       How a 16th Century Explorer's Sailing Ship Works
        
       Author : fallinditch
       Score  : 132 points
       Date   : 2024-09-05 03:13 UTC (3 days ago)
        
 (HTM) web link (www.youtube.com)
 (TXT) w3m dump (www.youtube.com)
        
       | dinoqqq wrote:
       | What a piece of engineering and what a research and work went
       | into explaining it this thorough.
        
       | cagenut wrote:
       | It took me three sit downs to watch this. Its so information
       | dense my brain was full after 15min. Worth it.
        
       | j_bum wrote:
       | This is an incredible video. What a time to be alive that high
       | quality, information dense videos like this are readily available
       | for the world to see.
       | 
       | Kudos and congrats to the creator!
        
       | maCDzP wrote:
       | Amazing video! For those of you that want to experience it -
       | check out https://sailtraininginternational.org
        
         | doubleg wrote:
         | Also keep an eye on https://www.gotheborg.se/en/about-
         | gotheborg/ in case they decide to go on another expedition.
         | Highly recommended.
        
       | grues-dinner wrote:
       | Amazing. As someone who mainlined Stephen Biesty and David
       | Macaulay books, I think this is brilliant (could do with a few
       | mammoths, though).
        
         | jayrot wrote:
         | How Things Work was extremely formative for me
        
       | JoelMcCracken wrote:
       | Holy. How have I never seen this account before. I've never
       | wanted to give someone my money so quickly before
        
       | qrush wrote:
       | Oh no, my recent obsession has made its way to HN... oh, no....
       | 
       | If you're into reading/watching fiction about the Age of Sail
       | (more so late 18th/early 19th century, so later than this video),
       | I can't recommend Master and Commander (also known as the
       | Aubrey/Maturin Series) enough. It's a lot of fun, witty, and full
       | of all the jargon you just watched.
       | 
       | Of course you can also learn to sail - if you're lucky like we
       | are here in Boston, there's affordable options for this that also
       | do great things for the community, such as a sliding scale
       | membership for adults + kids, accessible races, and more:
       | https://www.community-boating.org/
        
         | doitLP wrote:
         | Just in case you weren't aware, these guys have been doing deep
         | dives on the series with a chapter by chapter breakdown,
         | digging into every single reference and historical mention in
         | the books. https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-lubbers-
         | hole-a-pat...
         | 
         | After reading Aubrey-Maturin 5 times through I didn't think I
         | could appreciate it even more but this podcast revealed a whole
         | new depth of awe for the author. Like Steve Jobs insisting the
         | inside of the Apple II looked beautiful even if no one would
         | see it level of craftsmanship.
        
         | seer wrote:
         | There was a line from the philosophy book "Zorba" that went
         | something like "happy is the man who before dying sails the
         | Aegean sea".
         | 
         | When I first read it I was like - yeah right, another
         | exasperation l. But a few years later I happened to go to a
         | sailing coarse in Greece (Thessaloniki) and OMG was the author
         | right. There are a lot of seas / oceans about, but very few
         | places with so many small islands to scoot about. And honestly
         | going on a boat as a tourist does not really prepare you for
         | the experience of sailing yourself. When the wind powers the
         | boat there is no noise, you're just gliding through with the
         | power of your wit and ages of engineering.
         | 
         | Dolphins swim around you, cause its fun for them and no smelly
         | propellers, and the camaraderie you form with your fellow
         | sailers is intense, cause you depend on each other for
         | survival.
         | 
         | And at the end of the day you anchor in some cosy beach, swim
         | around and go to the local taverna for cheap drinks and amazing
         | food.
         | 
         | Sailing the aegean sea is definitely something you should do at
         | least once before you die.
        
           | digilypse wrote:
           | How'd you find the sailing course? I've been planning to take
           | a course on sailing and this sounds great.
        
         | legitster wrote:
         | I also recommend people check out the Horatio Hornblower books,
         | which not only inspired the Aubrey/Maturin books but also the
         | Sharpe books, Hemingway, and even Star Trek.
         | 
         | They are a little less contemplative than the O'Brien's works
         | but no less excellent.
        
           | jasonwatkinspdx wrote:
           | They also inspired the Honor Harrington series by David
           | Weber, which is basically Hornblower in space. I enjoyed the
           | first few, though the author inserting his monarchist
           | politics was mildly annoying. I got bored with the later
           | books because it felt like he wrote himself into a corner
           | with a character that had to keep coming up with increasingly
           | implausible dramatic victories. Kind of the Mary Sue thing.
        
         | VBprogrammer wrote:
         | Can I also recommend getting hold of a copy of "seamanship in
         | the age of sail". I've always had a latent fascination for just
         | how they managed to manoeuvre relatively massive ships around
         | well before the steam engine came of age. It's the only source
         | I've ever came across which really goes into enough information
         | to explain it to the limit of my curiosity. The page showing
         | how a sailing ship was worked up and down a tidal river using
         | various methods blew my mind.
        
         | jakubmazanec wrote:
         | I also recommend novels about fictional British captain Horatio
         | Hornblower [1] for those who like sailing and Napoleonic Wars.
         | 
         | [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Horatio_Hornblower
        
       | seacos wrote:
       | Wow, stunning. What a gem of a channel. Just subscribed.
        
       | fallinditch wrote:
       | Yes agreed, these Animagraff videos are so interesting and well
       | put together. The Lockheed SR-71 Blackbird video [1] is also
       | brilliant.
       | 
       | Another channel producing excellent work like this is Blue Paw
       | Print, for example the B-17 Flying Fortress [2]
       | 
       | [1] https://youtu.be/gkyVZxtsubM?feature=shared
       | 
       | [2] https://youtu.be/KWoPUqxroT0?feature=shared
        
         | lupusreal wrote:
         | If you're interested in the subject particularly, the channel
         | "WWII US Bombers" has very dry but information dense and
         | extremely well researched videos. Most of what he does is
         | present period documents about all manner of aspects about US
         | bombers from WW2, from the operation of computing gun sights to
         | effectiveness of various tactics, he dives into the nitty
         | gritty of things you probably never even thought to wonder
         | about.
        
       | overspeed wrote:
       | Excellent visuals! The 18th century warship video is a good watch
       | too. It's a nice comparison to the ship described in this one.
        
       | niles wrote:
       | Tally Ho was built very similar to this animation, it's a great
       | YouTube series that just passed 200 episodes. The care, quality,
       | engineering, and process that goes into each step is lost on the
       | 3D animation. You really need to see the chisel work and the
       | lines drawn to get how it all works. Highly recommend watching
       | all 7 years! https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCg-
       | _lYeV8hBnDSay7nmphUA
        
       | sorokod wrote:
       | "... the Dutch ship Vasa" - Vasa is Swedish [1], not Dutch.
       | Reconstructed Golden Hind[2] is worth a visit, it is next to the
       | Borough Market, London. They do children parties too.
       | 
       | [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vasa_(ship)
       | 
       | [2] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Golden_Hind
        
         | iglio wrote:
         | Indeed Swedish, but the master shipbuilder running the shipyard
         | was Dutch [1]. Perhaps that's the source of the mention?
         | 
         | Funnily enough, I was at the Vasa museum yesterday in
         | Stockholm! I enjoyed it very much, would recommend to anyone
         | visiting Stockholm. Incredible salvage achievement.
         | 
         | [1] https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Henrik_Hybertsson
        
       | kobalsky wrote:
       | There's a really good game called the "Return of the Obra Dinn"
       | where the events happen in a 18th century ship and the creator
       | strived for accuracy.
       | 
       | To beat it you need to learn a lot about the ship and crew.
       | 
       | If you like detective games the only problem with it is that you
       | only get to play it for the first time once.
        
         | Dansvidania wrote:
         | I am a big fan of Lucas Pope (the creator) and tall ships :)
         | Return of the Obra dinn is one of my favorite games, I highly
         | recommend it.
         | 
         | Bonus fact: Lucas Pope publishes very interesting dev logs [1]
         | that go into depth both on the setting and the technical
         | challenges.
         | 
         | [1] https://forums.tigsource.com/index.php?topic=40832.0
        
       | vundercind wrote:
       | Is there some kind of curated... I dunno, "smart YouTube"? I
       | can't stand browsing the site, but love these kinds of gems.
       | 
       | [edit] I dunno, "smart" isn't even right to describe my ideal
       | YouTube--I'd want to include stuff like those "slow"-style videos
       | that aren't necessary smart. Just non-clickbait YouTube? Low-
       | dopamine-abuse YouTube?
        
         | kylebenzle wrote:
         | It's ironic you say that as that is where these videos have
         | been coming from more and more (YouTubes recommendation
         | algorithm).
         | 
         | Nine times out of ten, this one included, I'll see the video on
         | YouTube THEN here in HN.
        
           | dwighttk wrote:
           | gotta feed the algorithm, and it will still try crap, but
           | eventually ends up more signal than noise
        
             | merely-unlikely wrote:
             | Be mindful of what you click (and possibly even just linger
             | over). You get what you engage with, love it or hate it.
        
         | fallinditch wrote:
         | > curated
         | 
         | Here's one with some good stuff
         | https://theawesomer.com/category/videos/
        
         | beAbU wrote:
         | Make use of subscriptions, dislike your dislikes, like your
         | likes and liberally hide/remove things from your feed you dont
         | want. Also make sure to prune your history from time to time,
         | especially if you watched "junkfood" and dont want more
         | recommendations for it. The algorithm catches on quickly. My
         | feed is pretty decent and relative to my interests.
        
           | okdood64 wrote:
           | Pretty much this. I've curated the recommendations pretty
           | well to my liking over the years.
           | 
           | It has some recency bias on "junkfood" I might watch from
           | time to time but it clears away quickly.
        
         | js8 wrote:
         | I don't use these but you might want to check things like
         | CuriosityStream or Nebula.
        
         | HeyLaughingBoy wrote:
         | Everyone has different interests though. e.g., I went through
         | the whole series of PacificNorthwestHillbilly videos of
         | rebuilding a 1950's Caterpillar bulldozer. You might not care
         | in the slightest.
        
       | motohagiography wrote:
       | absolutely amazing explanation that provides a lot of etymology
       | for words and ideas for people interested in sailing as well.
       | what a pleasure to watch.
       | 
       | was saddened by the ending abasement and skipping the last minute
       | of the video leaves you with a nicer memory of it. (the end
       | comment uses the whole thing as a vehicle for a genuflection
       | about the "sordid" history of the sailing tech. really, don't be
       | so humble, you aren't _that_ great.) Otherwise, what an
       | absolutely fantastic project!
        
         | lupusreal wrote:
         | I don't think the intent was to use the video as a vehicle to
         | make some political point, since he hasn't for any of his other
         | videos. So I think this one had what you mention just as a ass-
         | cover to preempt any anybody getting overly sensitive and
         | trying to accuse him of making the opposite sort of political
         | point.
         | 
         | It's not like he ends with a lecture to educate people about
         | what happened, he just makes it known with brief and general
         | language that he's knows some bad shit happened and he's not
         | glorifying those acts. Somebody who was clueless about all of
         | it would more or less remain so; it's a message directed
         | towards people who are already familiar with the subject and
         | might conceivably be offended by his video if he didn't include
         | the end bit.
        
           | motohagiography wrote:
           | it was an amazing video. I was sad the author felt the need
           | to pre-empt that sort of criticism as acknowleding it just
           | encourages it. I commented as a way to offset its impact and
           | recognize that it's not normal, no matter how contrived the
           | efforts are to affect it, in the hope others take heart. Even
           | if the author were instead absolutely committed to that whole
           | narrative and my comment clashed with that, I'd still say
           | it's contrived and taints a really beautiful exposition.
           | 
           | it's like performing a Bach piece and ending with, "...and he
           | was probably a racist too." it's degrading to the art, and I
           | don't think anyone is served by self abasement like that.
        
       | fffrantz wrote:
       | Perfect companion to the Captain Hornblower series of books.
       | 
       | https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Horatio_Hornblower
        
         | crooked-v wrote:
         | With the Hornblower time period, I'd point to the video on 18th
         | century ships on the same channel instead. There's a lot of
         | subtle differences, even putting aside the size differences of
         | the ships.
        
         | RachelF wrote:
         | If you like Hornblower, you should read the Aubrey Maturin
         | series.
         | 
         | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aubrey%E2%80%93Maturin_series
        
       | drewolbrich wrote:
       | I have zero tolerance for wasting time watching long YouTube
       | videos and I didn't think I had any interest in historical ship
       | construction, and yet I couldn't stop watching all 40 minutes of
       | this. Amazing.
        
       | mlhpdx wrote:
       | If you're interested in life on commercial sailing ships (hauling
       | cargo for trade), I highly recommend "Two Years Before the Mast".
       | The reference in the title defines the book - a well educated
       | young person signs on as a common sailor and writes about the
       | experience. Not an officer, not a passenger, the author sleeps
       | "before the mast" and tells about that life in glorious detail.
        
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       (page generated 2024-09-08 23:00 UTC)