A Spanish sailor has begun his attempt to recreate Magellan’s famed voyage using the same technology … sort of.
Spanish sailor Jose Luis Ugarte on Sunday set sail from this southern Spanish city bound for Japan in a replica model of Portuguese explorer Ferdinand Magellan’s 16th Century galleon Victoria.
The replica vessel was built for the 1992 Seville Expo and, if it reaches Japan without mishap, will be a part of the Spanish pavilion in the World Expo 2005 in the Japanese city of Aichi from March to September next year.
The original Victoria left Seville on the Guadalquivir river in 1519, while the modern-day version, measuring 25.9 by 6.7 metres (87 by 23 feet), underwent six months of work ahead of its odyssey, which began on Spain’s national day.
Ugarte, 75, told a news conference in Bilbao last week he wants to emulate Magellan and Juan Sebastian Del Cano, the Spanish captain who won his place in history by skippering the original Victoria back to Europe after Magellan was killed in the Philippines in 1521 without making it to Japan.
Ugarte is using only the technology and instrumentation available, though his ship is equipped with a motor, presumably for emergencies. I would assume that it is also equipped with communications gear and, hopefully, better food than was carried at sea back in the day.
The replica will head for the Panama Canal and hopes to reach the Mexican Pacific coast resort of Acapulco by year’s end.
I don’t know off-hand the time the original voyage took to reach Japan. For pacing, I’m sure Ugarte can compare his passage of the Panama Canal with that of Magellan.
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One response to “Spaniard to Follow Magellan’s Wake”
So, your saying that our elections should go the same as Spain’s, but with no terrorism because of the long term UN monitors ordered by the Dems. Kerry, the animal, wins and we are forever changed because we sold our vote to the UN.