tics.liberalism,alt.abortion,soc.men   
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   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.ý - 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   
      
      
      
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