Chapter 959： Transpacific

When Marin was thinking about going to the Daming Empire in the future, he was expecting Americo, and also led four ships, circled a large circle, passed the southern tip of South America, came to the Pacific Ocean, and headed north , And finally arrived in Panama City under construction.

At this time, Panama City was just a castle with a rudimentary port area, and the port area had only a few simple docks manually excavated. The small and small river beside Panama City was also named Panama River by the Temporary Governor of Panama City, Bald.

When four new 250 armed merchant ships from Amerigo arrived at the mouth of the Panama River, they did not rush into the Panama River. This is because, in the estuary of the Panama River, a few Aben's boats were stopped, and some of these four boats could not be packed in.

Bald-headed Ben looked at it, but that didn't work. If long-term sailing ships do not enter the Tamsui River to repair the maggots, then they must not be eroded through the bottom?

However, instead of waiting for Aben to clear his berth, Amerigo directly docked at the seashore and anchored himself.

"Teacher, why don't you stop the boat to Hanoi? You can't get rid of the maggots in the salty water area! Wait a minute, I will order to make a berth for your fleet!" Aben asked doubtfully.

At Captain ’s School, Columbus and Americano are the two most important professor-level teachers. As for Aben, it was the first group of students in Captain's School. When he saw Amerigo, he naturally called him a teacher.

But Amerigo refused with a smile:

"No, Aben, teacher, these four boats, are not afraid of sea worms decay. Even, no overhaul!"

"What?" Aben was shocked. As the first batch of outstanding students in the East Frisian Captain School, Aben knew the difficulties of sailing. After each long voyage, major repairs are almost necessary because of the decay of the bottom of the ship by maggots, as well as the slapping of the waves along the way and some bumps. The main content of the overhaul is to replace a few eroded or damaged wooden boards under the waterline of the bottom of the ship. This requires a professional drainage dock to facilitate the repair and maintenance of craftsmen. Therefore, Americo said that his ship did not need major repairs, so Aben would be surprised. After all, Amerigo's fleet sailed around the Americas a lot. To say that the bottom of the ship does not require major repairs, Aben obviously does not believe it. However, after all, Americano is the vice-chancellor of the Captain's School and professor of navigation. He said that no major repairs were needed, and obviously it would not be wrong.

"Aren't you repaired elsewhere, teacher?" Aben could only guess. After all, there seems to be a small stronghold on Santa Maria Island along the coast of Chile. Is it that the small stronghold also built a repair dock?

Amerigo shook his head and said:

"No, no, you misunderstood Aben. The four ships of the teacher, the bottom of the ship is covered with a special iron sheet, not afraid of sea maggots erosion, or minor collisions and damage. As long as you don't touch the big reef, almost no overhaul is needed. ! "

"Iron sheet?" The bald abben was surprised, and then worried:

"But, teacher, can't the iron sheet support it for too long? It's easy to be corroded by the seawater! Is it ... the iron sheet?" Aben remembered the last time he returned to China, he seemed to have heard of the iron sheet that was not afraid of corrosion in China. However, last time he seemed to have heard that if the tinplate skin bumps, it is also easy to rust ... And the nautical process, especially the process of exploring the new route, will inevitably bump, and the white iron sheet is not a problem ... …

The maritime regulations of the North Sea countries are very strict. For the first voyage, they are usually led by experienced seafarers such as Columbus and America. Then, they will record the coordinates along the way, and mark out which section of the sea area will have reefs, which needs special attention.

Moreover, at the bow of each ship, Marin also specially built an observation room, arranged for the sailors to watch uninterruptedly, and used low-power telescopes to observe whether there is a reef head in the sea not far in front of them, so as not to hit the reef.

Of course, this kind of observation is generally used when exploring the route for the first time. With the success of the first exploration of the route, the leader ’s logbook will clearly inform later people which section is dangerous.

Therefore, under such strict navigation rules, as long as the subsequent captain navigates strictly according to the coordinates provided by the previous logbook, there will be almost no danger. Unless, unfortunately, encountered a hurricane or typhoon. Otherwise, sailing is difficult. Americo also sailed all the way based on the logbook provided by Aben before. Even the dangerous Strait of Magellan passed through safely. At the beginning, when Arben's fleet first passed the Strait of Magellan, they almost lost two ships. If it were not for the help of a fellow ship, it might be over.

Amerigo naturally saw Aben's doubts and cheerfully told Aben that Dagong had come up with a new kind of white iron sheet (Marin didn't tell them that they were nickel iron sheet, anyway they didn't know what nickel was Just tell them it is new tinplate), not afraid of seawater corrosion. What's more, after the bottom of the ship was covered with tinplate, ordinary collisions could not hurt the ship at all. Unless, hit the sharp reef straight. However, for Columbus and Amerigo class navigators, that situation is very rare.

Aben suddenly realized, then warmly entertained American and his party. Today, although the cement road from Cologne Bay to Panama City in the Caribbean has not been repaired, the road on land has been opened. As long as it is not a rainstorm, the Port of Cologne can already supply some supplies to Panama City. In addition, Aben will also exchange some sweet potatoes, peanuts and peppers with some indigenous people nearby. Also, sometimes, Aben will send a boat out to sea ~ www.novelhall.com ~ For example, this time entertain American and his party, in addition to bread, bacon and other conventional food, there are fresh fish, roasted sweet potatoes and fried oil Peanuts and other dishes made Americo and his party sailing on the sea for a few months and had a great meal.

After the hospitality was over, Aben began to order to help Americano and his party prepare the fresh water for navigation.

The preparation method is very simple, that is, using the method of simulating steaming cans invented by Marin, the whole barrel of fresh water is placed in a large pot filled with water (over the barrel can also be used), closed and steamed to boiling. In this way, the fresh water in the barrel becomes boiling water, which is absolutely sterile. Then, the sailors put on gloves, used the tool to pick up the bucket while it was hot, quickly plugged the wooden stopper and put the sealing mud, and then took it out to dry. When the barrel and the sealing mud are dry, a barrel of sealed fresh water that can be kept for several months is ready.

According to Marin's estimate, this time America's fleet crossed the Pacific Ocean, because it was smooth sailing, it only took about 3 months. Therefore, it is not difficult to prepare enough fresh water. Moreover, within 3 months, fresh water will never deteriorate.

In addition, it is to help prepare some food. For example, Aben sent a lot of peanuts and sweet potatoes to Amerigo, so that they could eat them on the voyage. Fortunately, peanuts and sweet potatoes are also vegetables, also contain vitamins, and are more resistant to preservation. Of course, Ah Ben does not understand this. He only knew that Marin had said that it was right to eat more vegetables during the voyage. Moreover, he was also right, the sweet potato vitamin C content is very high. As long as it is properly preserved, fresh sweet potatoes can be kept for three to four months, and can survive this wave of navigation.

After preparing enough fresh water and food, Amerigo and others were ready to go, boarding the ship again, leaving Panama City, heading westward, chopping the waves in the direction of Keelung, the island of Daming Empire, preparing to cross the Pacific ...