History of sailing
Part I - The ancient history of sailing
Human beings are endowed with the ability to seek freedom and adventures. When reasoning came to our minds and when we started to use tools - that's also the time we began exploring the world around us. Very soon, the world around us was not enough - we wanted to see to where the horizon expands.
Water has always been an ultimate part of our lives (like air) - people fished, people used it as transport, people discovered more and more places on the map, people also fought with fleets...
Because of our ancestors, the strife for going to sea is more or less genetically encoded in us.
Ships and vessels are the oldest means of transport (together with horses) - cars, trains and airplanes were developed in late 19th and in the 20th century. Whereas the first ship remnants - and who knows if there weren't even older - date back to 2900 BC. So that means we have travelled on water for almost 5000 years!
The Egyptians, these pioneers of civilization, built big ships with at least 40 oars and only one square sail. The mast was uniquely designed to support the big sail, it looked like a sling - its official name is bipod (V-shaped, from two big logs). The steering device consisted usually of 2 big oars from both sides. With some convenient innovations, these ships were turned into war-ships (additional deck for archers, planks like shields to guard the rowers, wider sails for faster speed, etc).
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