What Was Nephi’s Role on His Ship? – Part I

Recently, we had a critique sent to us of our work regarding Lehi’s voyage to the Land of Promise. Though brief and cryptic, the comment is obviously filled with ambiguity, personal opinions and erroneous understanding. Over the years of writing this blog, reading other articles, especially written by theorists who so often delve into waters they have little or no experience dealing with or understand, it seems apparent and critically important for those who are truly interested in the location of the Lehi’s Land of Promise, a clear understanding of the ocean and its currents and the winds that drive them is known. Otherwise, there is a tendency to make unfounded and even impossible or at least improbable claims that no one with any knowledge on the subject could accept or follow, or to accept such claims without bothering to look up their supportive evidence and the facts surrounding the claims.

When Nephi’s ship left the harbor where it was built, it picked up a coastal ocean current, which would have built the further away from shore he went; and the winds would have filled the sails and “driven him before the wind.” He would have had little control of the direction he sailed with fixed sails dependent upon the wind

When Nephi twice said they “were driven forth before the wind” (1 Nephi 18:8,9), we need to understand what that means and what impact it had on the route they took. We cannot just look at a flat map and say that they took this direction or that, because winds and currents (that drive forth a sailing ship, especially in ancient times) determine the course, and nothing else.

An example of a single square-rigged sail being driven forward with wind in the sail, as Nephi described it “driven forth before the wind” (1 Nephi 18:8)

  
So, for all those who might share some semblance of this impractical view of the person submitting the comment, we here answer the critique, which stated in full: “D.O.A. Nephi was not a navigator. He was a pilot. A navigator can use the stars to navigate the oceans. A pilot uses line of sight and compass to traverse the oceans. Jerusalem is the same latitude as Georgia. Mediterranean is not the necessary environment for planting. It's latitude.”
    Taking his comments one by one, we provide our responses:
    Comment: Nephi was not a navigator, he was a pilot:
    Response: Evidently, this reader is not familiar with the role of a ship’s pilot in antiquity, which differs slightly from the current role. First of all, a ship’s pilot is its navigator while at sea, and is the principal navigator and in control of a ship in dangerous waters, ports, harbors or other difficult passages. Anciently, the pilot possessed a “rutter”—a handbook of written sailing directions used for navigation before the advent of nautical charts, and in classical antiquity known as a “periplus” (sailing-around book), and later a “portrolano,” or “port book,” especially in the Mediterranean Sea since that was where great knowledge of ports existed.
    Therefore, it is important to understand that before the advent of nautical charts, which did ot occur until the 14^th century, navigation at sea relied on the accumulated knowledge of navigators and pilots. The navigator’s job while enroute at sea was to be in charge of any and all charts, books, or knowledge of conditions, routes, and coastlines, as well as aware of the ship’s position at all times, and ensuring hazards were avoided.
    Though both the pilot and the Captain could issue orders to the crew, though the Captain always prevailed, anciently, the ship’s pilot, who was also the navigator, was in possession of the charts, etc., and plotted the course of the ship toward its destination. His role was basically needed going into port, leaving port, sailing up or around mouths of rivers, and when passing through any dangerous or hazardous waters. Initially, at such times, the ship’s Captain ensured their crew carry out the pilot's orders.

Some ports or harbors required special knowledge of shoals, reefs, submerged rocks and other dangers and needed an experienced pilot who knew the waters extremely well 

However, the pilot’s main responsibility was in berthing—heading into or leaving ports. Over the years the role of the pilot emerged regarding the unknown ports into which the ships sailed, thus the pilot needed to be quite knowledgeable since the channels through which the ships moved towards the port were sometimes too narrow or shallow for the size of the ships that emerged during the Age of Sail, with the stopping distance involved and the fact that ships did not steer well at slow speeds. Even if a ship captain was a regular visitor to a certain port, they rarely matched the expertise and experience of the harbor Pilot.
    Thus, at such times, the pilot gained equal authority with the Captain-Master. The role of the pilot was (and is even today) to ensure a safe passage through difficult or dangerous waters—today this is usually restricted to harbors, river mouths, etc., but in antiquity it was along unknown coasts, or those the Captain and crew had never before sailed, though the pilot either had, or was in possession of charts or other written information that described the area in detail. In fact, some pilots were based in a given port and had detailed knowledge of local sea ways in addition to a vast experience in ship handling (similar to modern maritime pilots). An ancient text from 530AD read: ““If the captain entered the ship in a river without a pilot, and if he was not able to control the ship and lost her when a storm occurred, the charterer may undertake legal action against him” (Justinian’s Digest, 19.2.13.1, Ulpianus, ca 530 AD).
    For as long as ships have been sailing the seas, there have been maritime pilots to assist a ship’s captain in their most treacherous passages. Specific pilots were not always available, or that in the time of exploration, when ships went where no one else had gone, a pilot was not needed—in such cases, the Captain-Master was both helmsman and pilot. The term “Gubernator” in Latin and “kybernetes” (kyberniti) in Greek, referred to such a man that knew the location of safe shelters and knew to handle the ship to enter them, and was in charge of the vessel at all times.

In the period of Lehi and aboard Nephi’s ship, none could have filled that role other than Nephi who had been taught by the Lord (1 Nephi 18:3), who not only understood the Liahona, but was instructed by it (1 Nephi 18:21), and who steered or guided the ship (1 Nephi 18:22). Consequently, a pilot could be mandatory in some areas where a higher risk for shipping existed.
    However, in antiquity, ships went to sea with experienced men, fishermen in small fishing vessels, experienced ship captains in larger vessels, and Captain-Masters in large ships and warships, in which the latter vessels it was essential to have a ship’s pilot since the duties of the Captain were to make war, while a pilot was to guide and sail the ship.
    As for such pilots, there are references to expert ship handlers with unrivaled local knowledge who assisted or took over from ship’s masters to guide vessels through dangerous or congested waters, in ancient texts such as the Bible and Homer’s Iliad, as well as Coleridge’s famed 1798 poem The Rime of the Ancient Mariner. However, since most people’s knowledge of such matters is taken from adventure books or movies, where a captain is often endowed with all three roles (captain, pilot and navigator), it is not often understood that these became over time three separate roles.
    For those unaware of the facts, a maritime pilot, also known as a marine pilot (one who maneuvers a ship through the shallow water to berth), harbor pilot (one who guides a ship into a harbor) or bar pilot (one who guides a ship over the dangerous sandbars at the mouth of rivers and bays), and sometimes just called a pilot, is a specifically knowledgeable sailor who maneuvers ships through dangerous or congested waters such as harbors or river mouths. During the “Age of Sail,” ships often had pilot and cosmographers—those who used charts, maps and the knowledge of the cosmos in order to navigate a ship at sea. Generally, when the ship came in sight of land, or sailed along coasts, or neared a berthing at a harbor or river, the pilot took over and the Captain, who was always consulted, became a supporter of the pilot and ensured that the crew followed his instructions.

It should be understood that a pilot was the ship’s navigator, though in some early cases the Captain was both navigator and pilot. Such a position was necessary to navigate a vessel through difficult waters, or known waters he had previously sailed. These pilots had well-guarded journals or records of harbors, shorelines, winds and currents.
    While the Captain is in control of his ship when at sea, the pilot controls ships when they're in crowded harbors or other confined waters. The captain, of course, knows his ship well, but the pilot is the expert on a particular waterway. Ship captains and marine pilots direct sea-going vessels on the ocean, on rivers, and in and out of harbors. The ship’s captain handles the job of navigating the ship in the water, but when the situation gets risky or there is any situation which demands greater skill in the maneuvering of the ship, the ship’s pilot acts as the person who advises the captain what route to take and what changes need to be made during a ship’s routine maneuvering while entering or leaving a port, especially if the entry to a particular port is quite narrow—a pilot would then be needed since it is the pilot who knows the way and ensures that the boat or ship passes through the narrow gateway without incident.
(See the next post, “What Was Nephi’s Role on His Ship? – Part II,” for the completion of this response, and the further comments of the critique and our responses)