• Book Beginning
  • Acknowledgments
  • Sources & Bibliography
  • Mary Ames Mitchell

Volta do Mar – The Twist of the Sea

Just in case you skipped the rather lengthy tale of Prince Madog of Wales, we are going to repeat our map of the Volta do Mar because these patterns were key to the discovery of the Americas.

The Portuguese used the term Volta do Mar, which meant Turn or Twist of the Sea, to describe the circular wind and water currents of the Atlantic. Unlike the monsoons that govern the Indian Ocean and change with every season, the winds and currents of the Volta do Mar follow the same direction every day of the year, every season.

Scientifically and theoretically, without any navigation, a cork thrown into the sea offshore from the west coast of England, Ireland, or Wales, could catch the sea currents to Greenland, then Labrador, and then Newfoundland before being taken back to the British Isles.

Catching different currents, a cork thrown in the water offshore from Portugal or the west coast of North Africa might be swept by the currents to the Canary Islands, west across to the Gulf of Mexico, north to Nova Scotia, and east again to Europe, passing the Azores Islands along the way.

Mariners and explorers needed to understand these patterns to navigate the Ocean Sea. Notice the gray arrow. When ships returned from India, after sailing past the Cape of Good Hope heading eastward, they needed to sail far to the west side of the Atlantic, then as far north as the Azores Archipelago, before they could return to Portugal.

Next article: The Mythical Atlantic Islands

Contents

Welcome
Notes on Discussing Time
Knowledge Ancient World
Technology Migrates West
The Romans and Latin
Iberia, Brittania, Fall of Rome
Judaism
Christianity
600s The Rise of Islam
800s Christian Europe
County of Portugal

980s The Vikings
1000s Fight for Jerusalem
1143 Portugal’s Independence
1147 Second Crusade
1154 Al-Idrisi’s World Map
1170 Prince Madog of Wales
1187 Third to Fifth Crusades
1200s Mongolian Empire
The Silk Road
Herbs and Spices
Legend of Prester John
1271 Marco Polo
Volta do Mar
Mythical Atlantic Islands
Real Atlantic Islands
Ancient Texts Resurface
Through the Pillars of Hercules
Rise of Portuguese
The Order of Christ
Pedro and Inês
Black Death
1303 Knights Templar in America
14th Century Maps
Rihlas & Travelogues

Portugal, Castile, or England
The House of Avis
1400s Henry the Navigator
Age of Discovery Begins
Henry’s Navigation Center
Chinese Treasure Fleets
Royal Distractions
Cape Bojador
The Caravel
Tools for Navigation
The Astrolabe
1440s Beginning of Slave Trade
Western Land Sightings
1450 Fra Mauro Mappa Mundi
Claiming the Azores
Constantinople
Dinheiro – Portuguese Money
The Guinea Trade
Crossing the Equator
Polo & Toscanelli
Treaty of Alcáçovas-Toledo
The Carrack
Diogo Cão Reaches the Congo
The Rule of the Sun
Overland to Abyssinia
Christopher Columbus
Columbus’ Calculations
1480 Alonso Sanchez of Huelva

c1485 Columbus Leaves Portugal
1486 Pushing West from Azores
1487-88 Bartolomeu Dias
Portuguese Reach Calicut
1487 Columbus in Spain
Conquest of Granada
Columbus’ New Proposal
1492 Columbus’ 1st Voyage
Treaty of Tordesillas
1493 Columbus’ 2nd Voyage
Calculating Longitude
1495 King Manoel I
John Cabot
Nuremberg Connection
Cabot in England
1497-98
Cabot’s 1st & 2nd Voyages

1497-98 Vasco da Gama
Cabot’s Return
1498 Cabot’s 3rd Voyage
1498 Columbus’ 3rd Voyage
1499 William Weston
1499 The Corte-Reals
1500 Fernão Alvares Cabral
1502 Columbus’ 4th Voyage
Maps After Columbus
Loose Ends
Mysterious Dighton Rock

We invite your feedback. If you have any comments, suggestions, or corrections, please email them to Mary.
Please tell me to which page you are referring. Thanks.

©2015 Mary Ames Mitchell. All rights reserved.
Book Beginning | Acknowledgments | Sources & Bibliography | Mary Ames Mitchell

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