Sailing nutrition has a long and complicated nautical history. As documented in the text (“Healthy Boating and Sailing”) the history of scurvy at sea, especially during The Age of Sail is both instructive and sad because of missed opportunities.
Read MoreWe humans are obsessed with “time” – and we always have been. The earliest evidence of time keeping goes back as far as 20,000 years as early man attempted to keep track of the lunar cycle. By 4500 BCE the Egyptians had developed yearly calendars in order to predict the anuual flooding of the Nile. They also developed the sundial to keep track of the time of day. Babylonian civilization which flourished around 2000 BCE divided the day into 24 hours with each hour divided into 60 minutes, and each minute into 60 seconds. It is the Babylonian division of the day which gives us our modern units of time.
Read MoreThe previous article “Time on the Water” dealt with clocks, focusing on the circadian clocks. The master clock – the SCN located in the hypothalamus – keeps fairly good time; accurate to a few minutes every 24 hours. It does need to be reset each day (mainly by light) or it will continue to run a little fast or slow.
Read MoreMany of you are aware of the catastrophic crash of American Magic during the 2021 America’s Cup challenge round. Everyone was concerned about the boat sinking (it very nearly did) but my initial response was, “fortunately it looks as though every sailor is wearing a helmet.” Hey, I’m a neurologist – what would you expect?
Read MoreOf course, we are all aware of the Olympic Games but more than an occasional sporting event, the classical Greeks considered mental life and physical life to be two sides of the same coin. Physical training was considered a civic duty rather than any kind of lifestyle choice. Training facilities and even professional trainers were provided by the city for champion athletes as well as ordinary citizens!
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