Arte rates reguntur: Nautical handbooks in antiquity?

Steering a course towards eudaimonia: the effects of sail training on well-being and character

“…Helming a vessel towards a waypoint or destination may be considered by the 'newcomer' as a form of work; Dewey drew a distinction between play and work, in that work 'is enriched by the sense that it leads somewhere, that it amounts to something ' (1910, p.164). The James Cook is very much founded in the 'recreational or yachting' tradition with its 'roots in the kind of leisure sailing that was developed during the late 19 th and 20 th centuries' (McCulloch, 2004, p.186), however, it could be argued that the culture and traditions of any type of sailing activity, regardless of technological advancements, may be found in the seafaring culture and traditions of antiquity (see, for example, Dunsch, 2012). This study's inventory of activities used the term helming, which is a complex activity that engages a young person in steering the 70' steel-built ketch James Cook, by way of its one-metre diameter steering wheel, in open water as the vessel is exposed to external variables (such as the wind, sea state and tidal stream).…”