Five Perils That Challenged Christopher Columbus

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Although Christopher Columbus had a successful expedition with his crew members through uncharted waters, Columbus faced five perils on his journey that threatened all three ships and their crews that present day technology could have enhanced. Christopher Columbus first peril was trying to calculate the amount of time that would be spent at sea. His fear was not having sufficient food and water for three ships and risking the crew’s lives. Present day navigational equipment allows you to calculate the distances between islands with great accuracy. While Columbus and his crew journeyed across the Atlantic Ocean, they would encounter their second peril. The importance of proper storage for food and water became an issue. Even though Columbus stocked their three ships with sardines, anchovies, beans, chickpeas, lintels, water, vinegar, wine, and other key foods for survival, the transportation in wooden casks with brine, wasn’t a well thought out plan. Columbus and his crew would later learn that the wooden casks with brine would leak and dry foods would get wet. This wouldn’t have happened if they would have had the proper knowledge to secure the brine with more efficient containers and or had refrigeration for them to transport their food and drinks like we do today. The third peril the men on the ships would face was scurvy. Scurvy is a well know disease resulting from the deficiency of vitamin C. that Columbus’s men suffered due to an improper diet of fruits and vegetables. Why, you might ask? The fruit and vegetable were perishable. Thus resulting in bleeding gums, loose teeth, open wounds, spots on skin, and even sometimes death. This could have been easily prevented with today’s medical knowledge of vitamin supplements. Along with ship life and continued perils, the men also contented with nature. While traveling across the Atlantic Ocean by sail, the

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