8/24/26 Report - The Tools Required of a Pilot of a Spanish Galleon in the 17th Century That Could Be Treasure Coast Finds and Artifacts. Tropical Depression Forming.

Written by the TreasureGuide for the exclusive use of the Treasure Beaches Report.

Whazit Finds Made by JD in 2021.

You know how it is when you find a little doodad, thingamajig or whazit and wonder what it really is.   It can be especially difficult to identify an object is a smaller part or piece of a larger and more complex object.  

Some of the more complex instruments on board a Spanish galleon were navigational instruments. There aren't many complete or even nearly complete examples that have been found, but some really nice pieces have been found on Treasure Coast beaches.  One or two of those unidentified objects you've found could possibly be from one of those. 

Above is an example of the kind of thing I'm talking about.  The items in that picture were found back  in 2021.  They have been identified as parts of a sextant or octant, such as the one shown below.   You can see the same parts on that instrument.

The pilot of a Spanish galleon had to provide the necessary tools of his trade.  I found one document that described the tools that a mid-17th century pilot was expected to carry.  The list included the following.

Four compass needles fixed and well-conditioned with lodestone.

Six hour-glasses (ampolletas) - each of one -half hour.

A sailing chart for the voyage marked with compass points

An astrolabe weighing over ten pounds

A forstaff with three scales marked for the sun and stars.

150 brazas (9825) of sounding line - fine and thin and well-tarred.

Three lead weights of six, ten and fifteen pounds each.

A wooden quadrant.

A copper lantern.

Two clocks of the sort made in Lisbon.

A lodestone is magnetized magnetite, which was used to magnetize compass needles.

Below are the steps that would have been used to create a compass needle.

1. Obtain lodestone – A naturally magnetized piece of magnetite.

2. Shape it – Strike or carve the lodestone into a thin, pointed needle or a spoon-like form.

3. Mount it – Balance the needle on a low-friction pivot (like a fine needle point) or suspend it from a thread so it can rotate freely thecompasshistory.com.

4. Align with Earth’s field – When the needle is free to move, it will naturally align with magnetic north and south.

5. 
   

The earliest directional devices used lodestone, a naturally magnetized form of magnetite. Historical designs included magnetized pieces that were suspended, balanced, or placed so they could turn. Later, a magnetized iron needle could be floated on a small support in water or suspended from a thread, reducing friction enough for it to align with the magnetic field.  (Source: TheCompassHistory.com.)

I wonder if any detectorist ever came across a lodestone from a wreck and didn't know what it was.  I probably wouldn't recognize a lodestone.  And maybe I have.  Now I know a little better.

On to the next item.  The sandglass was a necessity for every galleon.  In fact, as you can see, there would be more than one, but I don't know of any hour glasses ever being found on the Treasure Coast beaches.  That is not surprising since they were made of wood and glass, which wouldn't likely survive the centuries.

Spanish Colonial Half-Hour glass.

The most important job of a page, who was the lowest ranking crew member on a galleon.  It was up to a page to turn the sandclock every half-hour and keep time so the pilot the pilot could determine the course.  A page that didn't do his job would receive serious punishment - maybe lashes.

Jumping to the astrolabe now - the astrolab was used to measure the positions of the stars, Sun, and planets in the sky so that by finding one fixed point the user could then turn the dial of the astrolabe and have an accurate (if two-dimensional) view of the whole celestial hemisphere. The instrument can be used to determine the height of prominent geographical features such as mountains. The device can also be used to measure time.

Below is a 15th century astrolabe.

I think many of those parts would not be the most difficult to identify.  They were often made of gold and might also have silver or other metals.

I had a picture of a Spanish pilot with an astrolabe seemingly hanging at his side from his belt.  I'll post that if I find it again real soon.

Here is a picture of a forstaff being used.  It seems there are a variety of names for the same instrument.

And here is a full color picture.

You can see some parts there to watch for or that you might have seen.

Several sounding leads have been found on the Treasure Coast.

You can use the following link to see one that was found on the Treasure Coast back in 2012.

The Treasure Beaches Report Direct From Florida's Treasure Coast.: 9/8/12 Report - Head High Waves and Good Surfing on the Treasure Coast

I want to finish this post.  I won't comment on the last two items of the list now, but maybe I'll get back to them and leave you will a link to a 1717 book entitled Practical Navigation.  There was also at least one prior18th century edition.

Here is the link.

Practical navigation; or an introduction, to the whole art, ... By John Seller, ... 1717 : Seller, John Hydrographer. : Free Download, Borrow, and Streaming : Internet Archive

It isn't the easiest to navigate and the text isn't always clear, but it all there.  Much of it was devoted to extensive tables.

---

Source: NHC.noaa.gov.

The one headed towards us has a good chance of becoming a tropical depression by the end of this week.  That is something to keep watching.

The Treasure Coast surf won't get any bigger than 2 feet for the week.

Good hunting,

TreasureGuide@comcast.net