Life on Board

Passengers and crew were crammed into a space only 100 feet long by 30 feet wide for months. Disease was common, and lice loved the hot climate of the Caribbean. Carrying live animals on board only added to the lice problem, and within weeks clothes and bedding would have been infested.

Rats and cockroaches spread disease throughout the ship. One Spaniard describes hunting rats for sport on his galleon. The 1622 fleet was overrun, and one ship's crew reported killing over a thousand rats while still in Havana harbor. Other rats ate stored food and polluted drinking water.

Sanitation on board Spanish galleons was unheard of, increasing the problems of lice and vermin. With over 250 people crowded together, personal hygiene must also have been of a low standard. Toilet facilities were basic and the lack of privacy would have shocked passengers unused to ocean travel. The bilges (the space below the cargo hold) contained foul smelling liquid -- a mix of sea water, urine and slops. With no fresh air below decks, the smell from the bilges must have been sickening. The sight of land came as a relief to passengers aboard Spanish galleons.

Navigation using an Astrolabe

The first Spanish explorers used a compass to work out the direction they were travelling in. Then, sailors learned how to calculate out their position North or South of the equator by using the stars. This position was called latitude.

They found it by measuring the angle between the horizon and a star or planet - usually the sun at its highest point or the Pole Star. They then looked up a book of tables, which converted the angle into latitude. They measured the angle using an Astrolabe, like the one beside you. Try looking through it at the star, measure the angle and work out your latitude.

In the 17th century, there was no way to work out how far East or West you were, so sailors had to guess their position. To help them they found out how far they had sailed that day using an hourglass and by heaving the log (to measure their speed through the water). This wasn't very accurate, and any mistake could mean that the ship could strike a reef or the coastline and sink.

Sailing a Galleon

The upper decks of galleons were not straight, but broken into different sections. From the front (or bow) these are the forecastle, the waist, the quarterdeck and the poop deck. The quarter and poop decks were reserved for officers and passengers.

The 17th century galleon had three masts - the mizzen mast (at the back or stern of the ship), the mainmast in the middle, and the foremast at the front. She also had a bowsprit, sticking out in front of the ship. The fore and main masts each had 2 square sails. The mizzen had a triangular fore and aft sail. A small sail attached to the bowsprit called the spritsail made the ship easier to steer. Sails take their name from their mast: for example on the foremast there is the foresail and the fore topsail.

Sailing a galleon depended on the wind, and these ships couldn't sail straight into the wind, or close to the direction the wind was coming from. Sailing with the wind behind the ship meant that the foremast sails couldn't fill with wind. The best position was to have the wind blowing from behind you but slightly to the side.