Sailing on Dhows and Junks

[jcustis]

While I cannot help with any texts that describe life on a junk or dhow, I recently read a Saudi Aramco World article titled: Sailing Through Time: Jewel of Muscat, which detailed the hand-wrought construction of a ship built to replicate a 9th cent. ship that plied the maritime "silk road".

You can see an electronic copy of the magazine here: http://www.saudiaramcoworld.com/pdf/...203/index.html

As a shameless plug for Saudi Aramco World, I have requested free annual subscriptions for two years running, and have thoroughly enjoyed the articles I find within the pages.

[davidbfpo]

A few years ago a book was published about Chinese exploration, ostensibly challenging Columbus's discovery of The Americas; shortly afterwards much 'cold water" was poured on the book. I suggest you search Google using 1492 china discovered world and there maybe more there.

[omarali50]

David, that book (1421) is mostly junk. http://www.1421exposed.com/

IN any case I was looking for the sort of detailed account of shipboard life on European sailing ships that you can find in dozens of popular books and movies. e.g. this book about Captain Cook http://www.amazon.com/Blue-Latitudes.../dp/0312422601

Or the movie "master and commander", to name an example that was on TV a few nights ago.

[Steve Blair]

I've never seen anything like this, FWIW. Most of the accounts I've seen of the early Spanish and Portuguese exploration imply that the dhow trade was more coastal and lacked the range of Iberian efforts. That alone, I suspect, would have rendered it less nasty (possibly more like the trade in the Med and other places). But I haven't seen accounts specific to either dhow or junk sailing.

I also have a nagging recollection that the dhows were often unarmed, so they would have had smaller crews. That alone would have made things a touch more comfortable.