- published: 21 Apr 2014
- views: 27280899
A sail is any type of surface intended to move a vessel, vehicle or rotor by being placed in a wind—in essence a propulsion wing. Sails are used in sailing.
The earliest known depictions of sails are from ancient Egypt around 3200 BCE, where reed boats sailed upstream against the River Nile's current. Ancient Sumerians used square rigged sailing boats at about the same time, and it is believed they established sea trading routes as far away as the Indus valley. The proto-Austronesian words for sail, lay(r), and other rigging parts date to about 3000 BCE when this group began their Pacific expansion.Greeks and Phoenicians began trading by ship by around 1,200 BCE.
Square sails mounted on yardarms perpendicular to the boat's hull are very good for downwind sailing; they dominated in the ancient Mediterranean and spread to Northern Europe, and were independently invented in China and Ecuador. Although fore-and-aft rigs have become more popular on modern yachts, square sails continued to power full-rigged ships through the Age of Sail and to the present day. Triangular fore-and-aft rigs were invented in the Mediterranean as single yarded lateen sails and independently in the Pacific as the more efficient bi sparred crab claw sail, and continue to be used throughout the world. During the 16th-19th centuries other fore-and-aft sails were developed in Europe, such as the spritsail, gaff rig, jib/genoa/staysail, and Bermuda rig, improving European upwind sailing ability.
Donald and Goofy rent a sailboat. This boat is a bit unusual: to rent it, you put a nickel in a slot, and the mast and sail pop up. Unfortunately, after a while, they pop back down. When Donald runs out of nickels, they are marooned. Goofy waves his shirt at a passing cruise ship, but they (and he) mistake this for a friendly greeting. A flying fish lands in the boat; while the boys fight over it, a gull grabs it. They try to bash the gull, which lands atop their heads, with predictable results. Finally, as the sharks circle, they try fishing, with Donald as the unwitting bait. He eventually lands back in the boat, where his bill lands in the coin slot and gives them a way home.
Keywords: 1940s, anthropomorphic-animal, anthropomorphism, cartoon-dog, cartoon-duck, cartoon-shark, coin-operated, cruise-ship, dog, duck
Goofy: [fishing Donald out of the water] Gosh! I thought you was a fish.::Donald Duck: [angrily] Put me down! [Goofy drops Donald, whose beak gets stuck in the nickel slot of the sailboat]
Actors: Lionel Jeffries (actor), Duncan Lamont (actor), Richard Attenborough (actor), Gordon Jackson (actor), Michael Hordern (actor), Sam Kydd (actor), D.A. Clarke-Smith (actor), Vincent Ball (actor), Bryan Forbes (actor), Vincent Barbi (actor), Barry Foster (actor), Patrick Allen (actor), Ernest Clark (actor), Kenneth Griffith (actor), John Le Mesurier (actor),
Plot: After a quayside mix-up with the Italian family of his fiancée, Able Seaman Knocker White finds himself literally left holding the baby. Unable to return it before his ship sails he enlists the help of best mate Puncher Roberts to smuggle the child aboard. But babies are surprisingly demanding and gradually the whole crew is drawn into helping keep it fed and washed - and undiscovered. Even so, the officers above deck start to puzzle over the increasingly strange happenings on board.
Keywords: baby, based-on-novel, navy, sailor