Philippine Journey from China OR Spain Via the Sea

edmondsallan . Hi to all . I am drinking my cuppa , munching a bikky, and suddenly got a feeling I would like to board ship and cross an ocean or two . Just like the very early Chinese or Spanish .When you depend on the wind to take you across the sea too another destination , you just have to have knowledge of the sea currents & wind flows in the area you are heading into . Simular to the knowledge , some of our great maori navigaters knew & learn't.
In those oldy oldy days , if I left " Huzou " Port on the east coast of China and was heading for the Philippines to sell my silk etc, I would have to catch the sea current that sweeps Northward , up past Japan from the Philippines at approximately 120 degree's latitude and head eastward on approximately 30 degrees north Longitude till we got near 140 degrees north Latitude , and head towards America . The prevailing winds in general would have changed from north east to south-east at that Latitude . My vessel would be , being pushed at this stage , eastward. I have to steer, south/ east using that wind to get past the shallow currents still flowing north. We would then ,pick up the warm current flowing from the west coast of America
( southern Mexico ) across the northern Pacific , also the wind flow generally in this area is blowing N-N-West. We now have both the wind and the sea current, helping us to get to our Destination. " the Island of Cebu " in the Philippines
We are now , after, say- 5-6 weeks , approximately on 10 to 12 degrees Longitude west( not very accurate ) We keep sailing along this navigation , --- Bit of left hand down a bit --- or --- right hand down a bit, because of the wind which is trying to push us more directly North. Wait for it __ Fom the crow's nest 100 ' ft up the mast comes The cry " LAND AHOY - ON THE PORT SIDE !!! " and very soon we are in sight of the large Island of " Minadao " of the Philippines . As the crew start to think of having a good time . our Captain of our two masted sea going Chinese junk ,gives navigational orders to " stay on 10 Degrees longitude west , so we can hit the northern sea straight at the Tip of northern " Mindanao " where the sea current & wind will just about take us right into
" Lapulapu " and Cebu . When we want to go home ( back to " Hanzou "in China , our home ) we come out into sea on the western side of the Philippines just above the " Spratley Islands " at 20 degrees north - Longitude / 115 degrees Latitude west . If we stay on this course we will have another smaller current & a prevailing north west wind assisting us all the way on our homeward Journey . If the weather is right our journey home will be nearly a week shorter in time. This how the Chinese tried to trade & migrate to the Philippines way back in the 1400 ,- 1500, & 1600 centuries . Of interest to everyone , for the last 10 years including 2010 AD the Chinese have been claiming the " Sprately Islands " as their original sea boundries . Several close nations < Including the Philippines , is resisting this demand as especially the Philippines already have them in her official territory. Well may you ask , what brought this on by China & some other smaller groups ? It is one of the great breeding & fishing grounds in the world which the Filipinos Control . But their is more !!! Huge area containing the " Spratelys " has billions of untapped barrels of oil reserves .
Wam !!! . The reserves are well known world wide . Just after the second world war , when the American forces cleaned out the Japanese armed forces in the Philippines they started to assess these huge oil reserves . What will happen I haven't got a clue .- Till we meet again - regards--edmondsallan .