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Assuming the canoe had an inside diameter of 3 feet and a length of 40 feet, its displacement was about 140 cubic feet (1.5^2 * pi * 20). The equivalent volume of water would weigh 8680 pounds (fresh water weighs 62.4 pounds per cubic foot), or a little more than 4 tons (=8000 lbs.). With 12 smallish people in it (= 1500 pounds) it could take on a cargo - loaded right up to the gunwales and ready to swamp - of no more than 3.25 tons (=6500 lbs.), though much less in rough water. The Costa Concordia, which foundered off the Italian coast in January of 2012, was/ is 952 feet long, 116 feet wide, and 27 feet deep. It displaces 115,000 gross tons (almost 30 thousand times as much as H's canoe) and was carrying 3,229 passengers and 1,023 crew when it foundered. Columbus' largest ship, the Santa Maria, was 60 feet long, displaced about 100 tons (25 times as much as H's canoe), and carried 25 people. It was built to sail the Mediterranean, not the Atlantic. The Mayflower was probably 110 feet long, with a beam of 25 feet and a displacement of about 180 tons. It carried about 130 people (when it started out). A 40' motor yacht, of the kind often seen moored at the Riverplace Marina near the Hawthorne Bridge in downtown Portland, costs $160,000 used. It displaces 13 tons (probably a significantly reduced figure, for reasons of safety), but has a beam of 14', where Humboldt's canoe had a beam of 3'. A modern airliner… A Tri-Met bus… |