Seven feet under the keel!

Most likely, you have already heard on TV or live wish to sailors going to sail - “Fair wind and seven feet under the keel!”. With a fair wind, everything is approximately clear, but what is a “keel” and why are there seven feet under it? Let's try to figure it out.

Let's start with the keel. A beautiful word that has an indecently large number of meanings. This is part of the tail assembly of aerodynamic surfaces in airplanes, and the longitudinal outgrowth of the sternum, which serves to attach strongly developed pectoral muscles in some animals, and the unit of mass in the English system of measures, and the constellation, and the city, and the volcano, and asteroid, and, of course, We are most interested in - a special improvement that serves to ensure the strength of the hull and its stability.

From past publications, we already know that boats were popular about 5-6 thousand years ago. Their design was far from ideal and modernized throughout the entire time - our ancestors added some details, tested them, improved and modified the whole units. Over time, primitive boats received many useful changes - they had oars, sails, masts, shtagi, stiffeners, steering wheels, and so on.

An idea of ​​what types of ships were built at that time, where history could glance, is given by the wall reliefs of the necropolis near Saqqara, dating back to the middle of 3 thousand BC. In these compositions, the individual stages of the construction of a boardwalk are realistically displayed - their bodies were assembled from simple dies and caulked with papyrus. The hull was strengthened by means of ropes covering the vessel along the perimeter of the upper plating belt. In general, as you understand, such a thing could hardly boast of particular durability, since it crumbled from more or less serious physical effects. It was necessary to somehow improve it.

The next stage of the conquest of the seas-oceans began by the Phoenicians, who took an active part in the commerce and development of the seas - was a priority. They immediately realized that the seagoing ship should be different from simple boats and introduced their structural changes, adding stiffening ribs - frames. The ship has become much stronger, but still far from ideal.

Probably for the reason that the benefits of the ribs, if they are not attached to the spine, are not high enough, the Phoenicians estimated that what they did and made another modification. This is how the keel appeared - the spine - the foundation and support of the whole organism.
First, the keel was two beams, connected at an angle and passing in the middle of the bottom of the vessel from bow to stern. This "ridge" immediately gave the body strength and stability, allowed to establish the longitudinal and transverse links to which the cladding boards were attached. All these innovations predetermined the future type of ships and allowed shipbuilding to develop with unprecedented speed.

By the way, in the epoch of sailing ships, the most popular punishment was kilevanie - dragging the guilty ship under the bottom from board to board. Considering that they dragged a couple of times, it was safe to call this action the death penalty, as long as they pull back and forth, the culprit of the event managed to either choke or bleed the whole body through with benthos - shell growths on the bottom of the vessel.

To date, the keel is called false yachts on yachts, which has a couple of varieties. This is either a heavy lead or cast-iron ballast keel, which prevents the yacht from tilting and tilting; either boards, bars or a metal strip, sewn to the keel of a wooden vessel to protect it from damage when it touches the bottom.

Well, perhaps, with the word "keel" we figured out and can move on to the story with seven feet below it. It is a story - not a book “written in and out,” is explained very easily and goes back to the same antiquity. The fact is that the sailing armament of those times was little adapted for maneuvering, and therefore, when the wind started to blow in the opposite direction from the desired one, the ship was anchored and waited.

This circumstance forced the ships not to go far from the coast and to avoid the open sea. The draft of the ship of that period did not exceed one and a half to two meters, so the experienced helmsmen chose such a route so that there was always at least 7 feet under the keel. Actually, here it is, and the solution - the wish contains a call not to jump on the reef, shallow and to avoid all obstacles on the way to the necessary pier. Good wish, agree. Seven feet under the keel to you, friends! And do not forget to travel!