There were many jobs to be had on the ship with Cabeza de vaca. They invloved labor and other handy jos. One of these jobs was to use the lead line. The lead line was used to determine the depth of the water that the ship was sailing into. The leadmen would drop the lead line into the water and then take it out after it reached the bottom. He would then say a number that would correspond with a marking on the lead line that would tell how deep the water was. These numbers were 2,3,5,7,10,15,20, and 25 fathoms(6 feet). Another job was to keep time. Most sailors could do this job because it was farely easy to understand. From sunrise to noon was about six hours, and another six hours from noon to sunset. Using this way of thinking they could approximate at about what time it was.
Another job was to use the "Dutchman's Log". This method was used to tell how fast the ship was going. All you would have to do was throw some object overboard(must be able to float) at the front of the ship and then time how long it takes to get to the back of the ship. This was not a very precise way of telling the speed but it was a rough estimate of how fast you wre moving.
Another job was to use the "Dutchman's Log". This method was used to tell how fast the ship was going. All you would have to do was throw some object overboard(must be able to float) at the front of the ship and then time how long it takes to get to the back of the ship. This was not a very precise way of telling the speed but it was a rough estimate of how fast you wre moving.
