So no comments on the windward vs leeward islands question.
My thoughts are that it relates to where they are on the voyage from Europe and back.
Sailors travel south from Europe to nearly Cape Verde Islands then across to caribbean. They return to Europe via Bermuda and Azores. So you would conclude all your visits to Windard islands before moving on to Leeward.
Or do you know better?
3 responses so far ↓
1 Andrew // Feb 25, 2009 at 2:05 pm
That was what I got from wikipedia… but I couldn’t quite get it to add up with my understanding of ‘windward’ and ‘leeward’…
…hmmm…..
2 David // Feb 25, 2009 at 9:00 pm
I read wikipdeia and found their comments confusing and sometimes just wrong. Since the route from Europe and back is with the wind then the first islands you visit will be the Windward Islands and the second set the Leeward. The fact that going the short distances From Windward to Leeward is often close hauled or tacking is lost in the grander picture.
If you choose to go to the Leeward Islands first then it wouldn’t be logical to go to the Windward islands.
So for the early sailors I think the names made good sense.
3 Andrew // Feb 26, 2009 at 4:15 pm
“I read wikipedia and found their comments confusing and sometimes just wrong.”
— then edit the page you don’t like! 😉
Wikipedia doesn’t get better on it’s own 😎