Back to Malay One Last Time – Part I

This is a theory that simply won't go away despite all the reasons why it is a bad idea and totally inconsistent with the scriptural record. Because it won't go away, those who espouse it continually leave a door open for those who don't know or want to believe something other than Mesoamerica. Like theories in general, some people are persistent in their ideas, and we have one who keeps hammering away with his Malay theory. Despite every known General Authority and Prophet who has spoken on the subject claims Lehi landed in the Western Hemisphere, this person continues to promote his Malay ideas. So let us take a look at his last comments. 
   Comment: "Evidently, Del, you are unaware of the winds and currents that move about the Malay Peninsula, or you are listening to Olsen or others who promote Malay as a model for the Land of Promise. We've discussed this before so I'm not sure why its come up again. The monsoon winds blow west half the year and east the other half of the year. Right now, at this very moment, the winds are blowing from the Arabian Peninsula directly towards the Malay Peninsula…There is no going against the wind or currents half of the year…All the arrows you have drawn on the map are accurate for half of the year. The winds reverse for the other half. Boats have been blown to the Malay Peninsula for at least two millennia. There is substantial evidence that it is not only possible, but that it happened quite frequently. You've mentioned Tim Severin before on your blog. He did it. So we know it is possible. I am not aware of any evidence that boats were blown from the Arabian Peninsula to Chile. Ever, in all of history. Can you provide one example?” Unknown.

Animated Earth image of internet monsoon winds in the Indian Ocean, submitted by the Reader from (https://earth.nullschool.net/#current/wind/surface/level/orthographic=-295.59,11.38,316). Left Top: Yellow Square is the area of our discussion, the Indian Ocean, Sea of Arabia and Bay of Bengal; Top Right: Circle highlight and  blow up of Bay of Bengal. Bottom Left: Enlarged area of interest; Bottom Right: Enlarged area of Bay of Bengal. Note the lines on the animated image submitted—they move from northeast to north by northeast as we have been saying!

Response: You can say whatever you want. However, even your own submitted “internet monsoon winds” animation image show the winds blowing out of the southwest and heading to the northeast as we have been saying—your own drawing does not show any east to west flow in the area we are discussing!

Englaregement of the yellow square in the above image. Note that the green arrow is the path the winds take past the Arabian Peninsula, which is a southwest wind (blow out of the southwest toward the northeast). The white arrow is the best a ship might do in trying to turn eastward when being “driven forth before the wind” as was Nephi’s ship. The dotted blue arrow would have been a possible route for a tacking vessel using a lateen sail that was maneuverable, such as the Arab coastal vessels of the time,  but not for Lehi's vessel

In addition, these monsoon winds are called the “northeast” and “southwest” winds because they blow from those directions. We have put up drawings of numerous experts in this field to show that, including NASA whose study of the winds is essential for liftoff and reentry and they have expanded that to all over the world, including the Indian Ocean, Indonesia, etc. It is also those northeast winds that blow across India that cause so much damage, flooding and cost as well as deaths almost every year. Personally, I've said all I'm going to say on this subject since winds and ocean currents are more studied in this area than anywhere else in the world and more is written and more is diagrammed. If you want to debate this, then debate it with the experts, not some journal issue out of a small mag that has little credibility in the field. I personally have spent the past 15 years studying these winds and currents and other than a few isolated articles have found nothing in the mainstream of sea and wind that is different except with the possible El Nino periods.
     In addition, screen captures of clouds on a single day do not make a point in this field, but studies over many years of statistics plotted. See all of NASA’s work on this, or the NOAA, etc., whose significant mainstream work we have shown time and again here. Check out the “Mean significant wave height and 1000mb winds for July in Indian Ocean using Navy Advanced Measuring equipment of wave height, wave period and wave spectra data 20 to 40 year spans. See NODC Ocean Archive System data. NOAA Mean Wave Direction, and NOAA's National Data Buoy Center, which has buoy and C-MAN stations that record real-time and historical wave data. Etc., etc., etc. And if you want current data of a single period, see NOAA (National Weather Service) Wavewatch III, NWW3 Product Viewer showing 20170530 Indian Ocean (Global) (Latest run) 2017/05/30 06z Significant Wave Height and Peak Direction forecast for 180 hour hindcast, all arrows reading waves and winds move to the northeast (actually north by northeast) across the entire Indian ocean from between Madagascar and Australia clear into India and Malaysia and Thailand.

As mentioned above, all the arrows are moving basically northeast from this southwest monsoon, currently blowing at the writing of this article on May 30^th. Note: They do not blow east and west! Also note: the White arrow points to the internal blowup of the area blowing into the Malay Peninsula area and the direction of the arrows—northeast!

Having said all that, I’ll take the time to answer your comments:
    1. Evidently, you are unaware of the winds and currents that move about the Malay Peninsula. Really? With all the charts and diagrams that have appeared over the past eight years in this blog? Really? On the other hand, no matter what I do or do not know has never been the issue—I use maps and charts from mainstream measurement sources, such as NASA, NOAA, PODAAC, National Ocean Currents Service, etc., etc., etc.

Even if a ship could manage to round India, which is unlikely since the winds would drive it into the west coast of India, it would still be caught in the wave of winds blowing northeast (north by northeast) and be forced into the Bay of Bengal (dotted blue line) and be sent or propelled toward the Tailand mainland as shown, not in the direction of Malaysia Peninsula—however, most likely it would be caught in the current taking it directly into Sri Lanka. Remember, Nephi’s ship was “driven forth before the wind”

The thing is, we cannot just decide Nephi’s ship could go wherever you want it to. And if you are going to use a map showing where the current goes, you need to take Nephi’s ship in those exact directions since that is what was pushing Nephi’s ship forward.

According to the Reader's own map and wind directions, even if one could get past the subcontinent of India, which is not probable, they would be sent on the south into Sumatra, a little north of there into the Andaman and Nicobar Islands, or most likely, be driven northward into the Bay of Bengal and into the Nepal, Myanmar (Burma), or Thailand shores

  
    The chances of hitting the islands enroute rather than sail past them is far more likely for inexperienced seamen like Lehi’s family, than threading their way between them to a more distant island, if indeed they were able to get their ship on such a course, which is highly unlikely since it was “driven forth before the wind” and would have been sent into the India western shore (dotted arrow in second image above).
    In Nephi’s ship, which “was driven forth before the wind,” he would have had to travel 300 miles southward, across winds, to reach favorable winds moving in the direction eastward toward the Malay Peninsula. That is 300 miles with no wind behind his ship! What on earth would you say was moving his ship forward with no winds behind him to push it forward—with the first 100 miles mostly into the wind! Don’t talk about others, who did not have ships like Nephi’s, built for deep ocean travel designed by the Lord, but talk about Nephi’s ship traveling the course you claim against or cross-wise of the currents and winds on the map you submit as your proof of wind direction! His ship required the wind to be behind it at all times!

The problem lies in trying to get off the shore to the south or southeast when the southwest monsoon is blowing as shown here in the Reader's submitted map. The white arrows show the current flow (a very strong current) that would send any ship leaving anywhere along the Arabian Peninsula to the northeast and into the western shores of India

    Nephi would have had to cross 300 miles of counter-currents to reach currents moving in a favorable direction, i.e., east! Remember, this is your map that you submitted as support of your idea.
    So we ought to take a look at where those currents shown on your submitted map actually go, not where you want them to go.

 

Orange arrows: Currents coming up the African coast, across the Arabian Peninsula, and directly into India (not around it, but into it)—if you put to sea anywhere along the Arabian coast, you are going to end up on the west India coast if your vessel is “driven forth before the wind.” The other, thinner arrows show where you would need to begin to end up toward the Bay of Bengal, the Andaman and Nicobar Islands, or the northern tip of Sumatra island; if you begin where the green arrow is located, you your current would be turned back upon itself, ending up in the circular gyre shown 

Remember, once again, this map and its small, light arrows are those you submitted as evidence of the direction of the winds and currents in the north Indian Ocean. Nothing has been added or deleted from your submitted map except for the colored lines for directional emphasis.
(See the next post, “Back to Malay – Part II,” for more on this fallacious Malay Theory)