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Sailing, Sailing, Over the Bounding Main

Sailing, Sailing, Over the Bounding Main
Reading Level
     edHelper's suggested reading level:   grades 4 to 6
     Flesch-Kincaid grade level:   5.82

Vocabulary
     challenging words:    Archeologists, cargo, provided, warship, sailor, perhaps, european, founded, vessel, beginning, races, fellow, monstrous, battle, order, racing
     content words:    Middle Ages, Charles II, Northern Europe, New York Yacht Club, York Yacht Club, United States, Yacht Club

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Sailing, Sailing, Over the Bounding Main
By Jane Runyon 		  
1     The first sailor was perhaps someone who grabbed onto a fallen tree floating down a river. When man saw that trees could float, it was his instinct to use that information to provide himself with a new form of transportation. Early man was surrounded by water in the form of lakes, rivers, and oceans. He was able to get from one place to another using his feet. Being able to get across bodies of water was not so easy. When man learned to use wood in order to cross these bodies of water, a great problem was solved.
 
2     Archeologists have found the remains of early boats from almost 5,000 years ago. They won't say that these were the very first boats. They believe man might have made some kind of sailing vessel even earlier than that. As soon as man had created tools that could be used for shaping wood, it was time to put water to a new use. Humans drank water, fished in the water, and now it was time to use the water to take them to new places. It was time to explore.
 
3     The early Egyptians were probably the first pioneers in building large ships. These early sailors learned that even a single sail on their ship could catch the wind and move the ship through the water. Unfortunately, the wind did not always blow at the right strength or in the right direction to get them where they wanted to go. To make sure the ship would always get from one place to another, early ship builders also provided room for oars. The oarsmen could use these oars when the wind was not blowing. Some of the early Egyptian ships were rigged for forty oars.

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