Things nordic

In case it has not been noticed, there is a Recent finds tab. Recently, I got interested in sails (researching the barque Bostonian was one factor). Salem, now, has a large sail maker. How did Salem fit into the business in earlier times? One other motivation was that John Goff has written about ropewalking which Salem was involved with. Heather Wilkinson Rojo wrote about visiting the museum in Boston.

Sails, and their makers, seem to be taken for granted. Perhaps, the whole thing is considered of lessor intellectual fare.

But, not. At the Recent finds little bit on sails and materials, I put links to conferences and academic work. Especially, I found the Viking use of wool for sail material as indicative of lots of things, including an innovative spirit. What brings us back to TGS, Inc. is that the Vikings (Normans) were a large influence on the culture of the mother countries.

Too, though, this little paper by a student at MIT was intriguing: How a sail boat sails into the wind.

So, we will need to look further at all things nautical; but, the land people will have their say, too. Case in point. From a common point that the Oregon Trail has with the Santa Fe (old culture) trail, one can follow the latter toward SF in a car. What we can do now in about three to four hours took the hard-working travelers of that time three weeks (21 or so days of 8 hours of labor, each) to cover.

You see, on the boat, you laze about, if you are not part of the crew. On land? There is minute by minute solving of difficult problems albeit sometimes your work may be abetted by animal power (however, not, as we know from the Mormon cart experiences).

Remarks: Modified: 02/28/2019

03/22/2015 - Gardner's Beacon, Vol. II, No. 2, had the theme of Gardners and the sea.

02/28/2019 -- This year, we're pulling together the contributions by John Goff, Salem Preservationist.