this post was submitted on 03 Mar 2024
449 points (94.5% liked)

Funny

6749 readers
1241 users here now

General rules:

Exceptions may be made at the discretion of the mods.

founded 1 year ago
MODERATORS
 
you are viewing a single comment's thread
view the rest of the comments
[–] [email protected] 3 points 8 months ago* (last edited 8 months ago)

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Polynesian_navigation#Subantarctic_and_Antarctica

Sounds like a "probably not, but maybe."

I'm a big fan of Polynesian sailing and would argue that they were every bit the equal of Age of Sail Europeans, if not superior (even despite lacking compass technology). However, their boats and clothing were generally pretty optimized for the tropics, not polar conditions.

I, for one, wouldn't want to be in the Screaming Sixties wearing a cloak and no pants exposed on the deck of a catamaran, no matter how many seal pelts said cloak was made out of. I can only assume any sane wayfinder would say "fuck this shit" and turn North well before hitting the Antarctic shore.