Naval gazing…
At the marina the other day, in the little coastal village of Triabunna, looked up and saw rigging that seemed so anachronistic.
Being drawn to all things medieval, had to blink twice thinking mind was slipping as I write Gisborne: Book of Knights.
Stepped back and thought, no – boat’s a bit further on than twelfth century.
Stepped closer – replica of fifteenth century Portuguese caravel built in Australia.
Imagine! Found a fifteenth century caravel in a tiny fishing village in Australia!
Always thought caravels were HUGE. Not so. Puts whole other slant on Dorothy Dunnett’s House of Niccolo series.
‘Romance’ of the boat was astonishing. Stood staring at it and imagining so much. Not least was seeing Niccolo, Loppe and Julius on deck. That led to thoughts of nefarious trading games in the Mediterranean and down the coast of Africa.
In reality, I was in a little village founded in 1830 after British settlement. And over the road? The best fish and chips for 80 kms round about!
Image courtesy http://andrewdwyer.com/
*Notorious was making her way down the Tasmanian coast for the Wooden Boat Festival which begins in Hobart tomorrow.*
Now THIS is the kind of naval gazing I can stomach…pun intended!! Being land-locked, I know absolutely nothing about seaworthy crafts. Altho I have skiied behind motor boats. Does that count?! Love the boat and think you should park one outside your door. For inspiration. 🙂
Do you know what this boat’s primary use was
Given the time frame, and the Portuguese being what they were were, I’d say exploration and trade. They certainly explored wide areas of the African coast at the time and transported much largesse of all kinds back to the home country.Later of course, they made there way into the Indian ocean and across to the subcontinent and further into the southeast Asian region.
It’s good to see your pics, Prue. I’ll take note of the shrouds and other rig – my current writing is a story that has three chapters set aboard a Portuguese caravel – so it’s great to study the replica.
best wishes
Harry Nicholson
Harry, I’m so pleased I could help and will be seeing the boat again today. If I manage to get aboard, I shall take more pics and make available for you.
Thanks for sharing the pics of the replica. Re Dorothy Dunnett’s House of Niccolo series…Would you suggest reading this prequel series before the Lymond series?
Hi Lynn. It makes sense, because in the most obscurely Dunnett way, Niccolo certainly leads to Lymond. But Dunnett actually wrote them round the other way and that’s the way I and many other fans read them so I don’t think it matters. Depends, I guess, which is your favourite era.