tics.liberalism,alt.abortion,soc.men   
   .googlegroups.com>     
      
   In article ,   
    Mark Borgerson  wrote:   
      
   > In article ,    
   > marek1965@comcast.net says...   
   > >    
   > > In article    
   > > ,   
   > >  An tSin Gorm  wrote:   
   > >    
   > > > In article    
   > > > <6498e858-c5d3-48a4-8032-13340f77a14c@d3g2000vbj.googlegroups.com>,   
   > > >  denis  wrote:   
   > > >    
   > > > > By prevailing over all obstacles and distractions, one may unfailingly   
   > > > > arrive at his chosen goal or destination.2 - Christopher Columbus   
   > > >    
   > > > His chosen goal was the east coast of Asia. He missed by about half an    
   > > > earth.    
   > > > He    
   > > > was lucky there was an America shaped continent in his way or he and his    
   > > > crew    
   > > > would've died of thirst.   
   > >    
   > > Not necessarily.  Another element of luck Columbus enjoyed was the the    
   > > trade winds that made returning to Europe several times faster than    
   > > sailing to the Americas.  This allowed him to extend his voyage of    
   > > discovery considerably.   
   >    
   > I think you've got the westerlies and trade winds mixed up.  The trade   
   > winds generally blow East to West in the tropics and sub-tropic zones.   
   > The westerlies are the winds that provide the faster sailing times   
   > from North America to Europe in the North Atlantic.   
   >    
   > http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Map_prevailing_winds_on_earth.png   
   >    
   > The biggest problem for sailors in the Atlantic was getting caught    
   > between the two---the notorious 'doldrums'.   
   >    
   >    
   > Mark Borgerson   
      
   Heck, I'll even go one further and say that I wasn't even sure that    
   Columbus had used them properly.  On the wikipedia page regarding    
   tradewinds, there is no mention of Columbus whatsoever.  Then on    
   Columbus' journey page,    
   (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Voyages_of_Christopher_Columbus), it's    
   mentioned: "There was a further element of key importance in the plans    
   of Columbus, a closely held fact discovered by or otherwise learned by    
   Columbus: the Trade Winds."     
      
   dictionary.com defines "trade winds" as:   
   http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/trade+winds?s=t   
   trade wind   
       
    /wjnd/ Show Spelled[wind] Show IPA   
   noun   
   1.   
   Also, trade winds . Also called trades. any of the nearly constant    
   easterly winds that dominate most of the tropics and subtropics    
   throughout the world, blowing mainly from the northeast in the Northern    
   Hemisphere, and from the southeast in the Southern Hemisphere.   
   2.   
   any wind that blows in one regular course, or continually in the same    
   direction.    
      
   So my "mix up" is understandable.  I suppose it was useful to see if you    
   were still reading the forum.   
      
   Regarding whether Columbus would have starved to death if the continent    
   wasn't there.  I suppose the"trade winds" would have still existed along    
   with other islands as well.  Indeed, many people are not aware that    
   Columbus didn't land in America on his first journey but rather the    
   Bahamas.     
      
   regards,   
   PolishKnight   
      
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