Voyage to Jamestown

Book excerpt: Voyage to Jamestown explores how sea navigation was accomplished during the era of discovery. Navigational methods and tools are presented within the setting of their use during a sea voyage of the period. While this voyage features a fictional crew and ship, it is carefully reconstructed from actual events, circumstances, narratives, and historical figures, which demonstrates the challenges of marine navigation within the cultural experience of people who actually traveled the oceans centuries ago. The fictional voyage follows the merchant galleon Guyft from Bristol, England, to Virginia in 1611, captained by Tristram Hame. With this narrative technique, the reader can absorb seafaring and navigation as practiced in the seventeenth century as if they were on board the ship. Navigational theory, methods, and instrumentation of the era are all engagingly presented within economic, political, scientific, and religious contexts to portray how the early navigator experienced his world.--from publisher's description.