Destiny, Exploration Project

Starting Day at Sea

Sep 21, 1503

I am a sailor on a caravell exploring Africa. The caravell we will be sailing on is about 6.5 meters wide and 21 meters long. All of our bags, food, drink, ect. are in a storage area underneath the boat. There is no room underneathe the boat for an ordinary sailor like me, so I stay on the open deck.

Elmina Port

Sep 24, 1503

Elmina Port was mostly a port to trade gold dust. The gold dust was found in africa a few years ago. This is also the first port that started trading slaves for goods. There have been millions of africans sent to America because of trade.

Lagos Port

Sep 30, 1503

This was another trade post where africa traded slaves through
badagry for goods. The goods africans were looking for at this port were metal wares, iron bars, and wool linen to build buildings or other buildings or jail cells.

Day 20 at Sea

Oct 11, 1503

I had my last fresh meal 20 days ago. I dont know how much longer I can take this exploration. I eat fish, salted meat, and hard biscuits almost every day. I sleep on the open deck, whether it is raining, hailing, whatever the weather conditions may be.

Apapa Port

Oct 14, 1503

The people in this port werent as nice, they wanted jewlery. People would bring them jewelry but if it wasnt just right then they wouldnt accept it. They would often send americans back from their voyage empty handed.

Day 33 at sea

Oct 24, 1503

I am staring to get concerned, other crew members on the ship are starting to get a disease, I mostly see it on the back of their legs and we dont know what it is from. I spent most of my day being the ships watch. Usually we watch for about 5 hours and then switch watchers.

Mombasa Port

Oct 27, 1503

This port was for africans wanting spices, people from America or Europe came mand mtraded things such as gold and ivory. Gold and Ivory wasnt worth just a few spices though, so they wanted spices and other goods for their merchandice.

Day 40 at sea

Oct 31, 1503

Last night was rough. Sleeping on the deck, you can expect the rain, snow and cold weather conditions but I didnt expect to sleep in water. Our boat started to flood last night. So at sunrise this morning we were throwing the water out by buckets.

Kilwa Port

Nov 3, 1503

Kilwa Port was a port on the ocean side with ground great for growing cotton, which is exactly what we needed. Kilwa port wanted gold so then they wuld trade it off for something they needed that they could get more of from another port close by. This port was a middle man port, their goods traveled from one place to the next.

64 Days at Sea

Nov 24, 1503

I havent heard from my family in forever, the buicuits are turning into just powder and I dont think I can eat another fish. I am sick about everyday because of the cold. Living as a sailor with caravel conditions is a lot more difficult than it seems.