/lit/ - Literature

>>20805519
The works which will best give you the idea are more modern works, they tended to ham things up back in those days and almost as a rule do not discuss the tedium. The best I have found is the writing regarding the first single handed non-stop solo race around the world, it introduces the unknown element which the early writings (and even Slocum's account) completely downplay. The psychological toll the race took on all but one sailor is much like that reported by the early explores but they tend not to ham it up and downplay this, after months alone on their boats they were beyond hamming it up. Start with A Voyage for Madman which is a great overview and then dig into the writings of the various sailors.

The writings of the early circumnavigators are sadly not that great unless you like reading banal logs and descriptions of plants.

t. getting ready to go solo all the way around

>>20805537
oof, a little drunk, sorry about those language skills. If you did not get it, the writings by and about the explorers of those times do not do a very good job of showing what it is actually like/was like as they seem more interested in telling a good story. The early non-stop solo circumnavigators tends to be more frank.

All the writing by people who make ridiculous passages in ridiculous boats are also good, plenty have crossed the Atlantic in rowboats and tiny sailboats and written about what it was like, google can point you to their books. If this is still up after I sober up I will do a good solid effort post for you, done nothing but save money and read most everything written by explorers and sailors for the past decade or so in preparation for my big trip, so I have read an insane amount of this stuff.

Read The Lusiads for the epic version, with Greek Gods intervening and monsters and stuff.

Read pic related for some actual facts and real crazy adventures.

Definitely read the lusiads if you enjoyed The Greeks™, it's basically The Greeks™ but translated into an epic about 16th century portuguese discoveries. The story literally follows the map you posted

>>20805724
There's also some oddly 4channy moments in The Lusiads, like when the Adamastor threatens the portuguese with interracial cuckold gangbangs if they dare to travel beyond the Cape of Good Hope lol

>>20805519
yawn

>one day storm
>several days no storm
>storm again
>rough water
>almost sink
>sail more days
>arrive

>>20805519
pretty grim if you weren't an officer. You're better off going to a museum that has ships of the time period nobody will tell the story of actual sailors of that time period, it's too depressing.

It only got better around the mid 18th century and 19th century.

>>20805569
Thank you for the informative post, anon. Your language was fine, I just couldn't reply because I went to sleep the moment I posted the thread. Quite disappointed to learn that they avoided talking about their time on the ships. I was hoping to read some non-fictional accounts of all the death and despair these people supposedly faced. I will look into your recommendation. I have no experience with sailing myself, but I am curious how modern technology mitigates the hardships of this monumental task. Good luck on your adventure!

>>20805716
>>20805724
This is exactly what I'm looking for, except for the fictional aspect. Does this work provide a realistic account of sailing? Does it conveniently ignore any difficulties that a sailor might have encountered on his journey?

>>20805519
The Sea-Dragon: Journals of Francis Drake's Voyage Around the World was alright, and I read it at my school's library a few years back. Many accounts from captains on these voyages focus on keeping their crew from mutinying and straight executing/stranding conspirators. Samuel Elliot Morrison is also a good resource for all things nautical.

it was like sailing

>>20805519
its not reading material, but I found that the Pirate History Podcast is a well researched resource that would definitely help with what you're looking for

Pic related.

>>20807251
In this vein, there is also Pigafetta's journal describing Magellan's expedition.

>>20807316
the remarkable thing about those men is how fucking brilliant they had to be to navigate as well as they did before longitude was developed, and modern celestial filters out a ton of people today despite the fact that all the information and corrections needed are already compiled into tables for you

>>20806426
>but I am curious how modern technology mitigates the hardships of this monumental task
Up until very recently there was not much new technology on sail boats and even today a great many boats out there have not much more than a radio on them. There are some improvements in sail handling like furling sails, self tailing winches and the like but these are not really changing much from the sailing point most of the time. There is scant little writing which shows glimpses of the life of the sailor in those time, most of it is logs which just list banal details while giving no insight too most people. Some captains and the like wrote books but they had it fairly comfortable on board and ham it up as the rule. The science sorts on those voyages tended to be all about science for the most part. We have very little which show what it was like.

One of the big things which the writings lack is the unknown element, we get glimpses in the logs with reports of supplies and crew moral, but they are meaningless to those that do not sail. Having gone through half your water supply is fairly major if you were sailing into uncharted waters, at that point you probably have enough water to turn around and make it back to where ever you topped off last, but you do not know if you have enough water to get you anywhere else because you don't actually know where anything else is because uncharted waters. It creates a fair amount of tension on board if your water hits the halfway point and you have yet to see land.

There are loads of things like this which are neglected in the writings, if you are a sailor you can read ships logs from many of the journeys without being board to tears and missing the nuances between entries like "water down to half capacity" and "crew moral low" which appearing next to each other is essentially a red flag from the captain saying if we don't find a fresh water source soon or turn back there will be a mutiny. Most of the writings (if not all) from those voyages tend to make it out to be more like a modern cruise than anything.

Some of the books which recreate historical journeys by traditional means might be good for you, A Viking Voyage comes to mind, some people build a replica Viking long ship and attempt the journey outlined in the Vineland Saga.

>>20807897
>at that point you probably have enough water to turn around and make it back to where ever you topped off last
...you do remember that you're talking about sail boats, right?

If you're willing to go as far at the 19th century there is a lot of good material. Other anons have noted that depicting the tedious day to day didn't really come into fashion until later.
Two obvious recs to start with are Moby Dick and Typhoon

>>20807926
>t. drinks salt water

>>20807897
How do you feel about ocean horror stories heavy on nautical details like HorrorBabble has been playing recently? They recently did The Brain Eaters by Belknap Long, but if you back further they did a whole week or two on ocean horror that was fun

Ever read Three Skeleton Key?

>>20807985
Never did anything for me and almost all works which go heavy on the nautical details and overdo it, even Melville. Sort of needed to keep landlocked readers in the mood, but it irks me.

>Three Skeleton Key
I have heard the Vincent Price radio drama by that name. It was kind of fun.