[silverkknd]

In 1895 a retired Canadian sea captain set off to sail alone around the world. It had never been done, and it took Joshua Slocum three years, but the book of his adventures made him famous. Since then, fewer than 200 people have sailed in his wake and two of them are also Canadian. IDEAS contributor Philip Coulter explores this greatest challenge sailors set for themselves — possibly the greatest of all human challenges. **This episode originally aired April 8, 2013.

[dooglus]

It's been said that we know more about space than we do about the oceans here on earth. Staring into the cold grey North Sea off the Scottish coast, the poet Ann Stevenson writes "the sea is as near as we come to another world".

[fonzie77]

The boats are like giant sleds, sixty-feet long, wide and shallow, with giant sails, designed to go fast. Speed is your friend, they say, because the faster you go, the less stress on the boat, on the sails, on you. A storm, with sixty-foot waves and fifty knot winds, is just fine — gets you there faster. here

[icaro]

A teenage girl who sailed around the world unaided was greeted by thousands of cheering supporters on her return home to Sydney today after her seven-month voyage.

[Gatsu]

"She said she'd sail around the world, and she has," her mother, Julie, said as she watched her daughter cruise past the finish line from a nearby boat. "She's home."

[marcelus23]

Watson, from Buderim, north of Brisbane, in Queensland, sailed out of Sydney on 18 October amid fierce criticism of her parents for allowing her to attempt such a feat. Throughout her journey they stuck to the view that she was well prepared, noting that she has been sailing since she was eight. here

[coins]

They both sold the slaves at a Spanish port, but were betrayed by the Spanish.

[bitk]

Drake was able to escape but he never forgave the Spanish and considered them a lifelong enemy of his. more

[willyzg68]

Sir Francis Drake was born in Tavistock, Devon and was an English sea captain, privateer, slave trader and explorer in the Elizabethan era.

[ritobanb]

When he returned from his expedition, he gave a lot of the treasure he acquired when he was at sail to the Queen. here

[unsolicited]

They “all at once rushed upon him with lances of iron and of bamboo,” wrote Antonio Pigafetta, an Italian scholar who accompanied the journey, “so that they slew our mirror, our light, our comfort, and our true guide.” The crew left his body behind—an indication, perhaps, of how they truly felt about their relentless leader. here

[distant]

Five hundred years ago, Ferdinand Magellan began a historic journey to circumnavigate the globe. Simple, right? Not really— the explorer and his voyage are a study in contradiction. Magellan was Portuguese, but sailed on behalf of Spain. He was a formidable captain, but his crew hated him. His expedition was the first to sail around the world, but he didn’t end up circling the globe himself. His name wasn’t even Magellan.

[Marlo]

After winter weather forced his ships to wait for months in what is now Argentina, Magellan’s crew mutinied. One ship wrecked; another ditched the expedition altogether and headed back to Spain. The captain struggled to regain control of his men, but once he did, the repercussions were swift and harsh. He ordered some of the mutineers beheaded and quartered; others were marooned or forced into hard labour. more

[costner1367]

Though Lapu-Lapu likely did not do the deed, he is widely commemorated as a symbol of Filipino resistance and pride. Now, historians are working toward a more accurate portrayal ahead of the 500th anniversary of Magellan’s arrival in the Philippines. The government’s quincentennial celebrations in 2021 will include replacing a 10-foot statue of Lapu-Lapu in the city that bears his name. A monument that shows the battle itself—and the group effort that brought down an epic explorer—will take its place.

[limikael]

But though Magellan’s name is associated with discovery by some, others shy away from that word. “When I write my textbook I will state that Magellan arrived in the Philippines in 1521,” says historian Ambeth Ocampo, former chairman of the Republic of the Philippines’ national historical commission. “Magellan should not be seen as the beginning of Philippine history but one event [in] a history that still has to be written and rewritten for a new generation.”