Acalihuica

A typical acalihuica rig consisted of two settee main sails and a headsail.

An Acalihuica is a type of sailing ship native to Zacapican sporting one or two masts with lateen or settee sails. They are used by the people of southern Oxidentale to travel in the southern Makrian ocean as well as the southern Thalassan ocean, especially the fishing banks in the Matlayahualoa Sea. Acalihuicas are generally long, narrow vessels served by crews between one and three dozen and used for fishing or transportation of cargo and passengers. They are entirely sail driven and rely on currents and winds for prolusion, and are generally designed for deep waters such as the open ocean.

History

The first vessels of this type were constructed by the selk'nam native to the Aztlacapallco region of southern Zacapican between 200 and 600 CE. The exact date and location of the invention of the acalihuica vessel plan is lost to history, with some sources suggesting the selk'nam may have adopted the vessel from a unknown foreign oceangoing group. Very little selk'nam accounts of this time period survived to be entered into the historical record, clouding the nature and origin of their many intentions and contributions in uncertainty. The selk'nam had asserted their independence since the fall of the Zacapitec Old Empire around 100 BCE but were eventually reconquered by the Middle Empire through a series of smaller conflicts in the 7th century. From that point forward, acalihuica ships were in use within Zacapitec territory, where they began to increase in popularity due to their ocean-going capabilities which eclipsed the older watercraft of the nahuas. By the 10th century, Zacapitec fishermen had widely adopted the acalihuica and began to engage in the systematic exploitation of the rich fishing grounds in the Matlayahualoa Sea to the east of Zacapican. It was around this time that nahua colonists first landed on the Michnamanalco archipelago.

In 1345, the brothers Meztli and Mecalan successfully completed the "long course" maneuver using a single acalihuica known as the Xocotzun, returning to Zacapican from the easternmost Michnamanalco islands by traveling north to catch the southwest-bound Rezese current. This marked a turning point in Zacapitec maritime history and officially began a new age of exploration. The brothers and their famous ship would in 1355 participate in the first trans-thalassan expedition, which was lost. By the end of the 14th century, however, very large acalihuicas exceeding 30 meters in length and displaced between 70 and 85 tons were being build and were used to mount the first successful trans-Thalassan expedition, landing in western Malaio in 1389. From that point forward, acalihuicas would become the mainstay of fleets participating in the Cecatoyas trade and would ferry silk, spices, dyes, lumber and precious metals back and forth across the southern Thalassan ocean, utilizing the eponymous Cecatoyas current to travel to Malaio and the Ozeros sea, before utilizing a giant version of the "long course" navigation technique to return west by means of the westerly equatorial currents and south to Zacapican utilizing the Rezese current.

Types

• Yetic type acalihuicas were the common deep sea boats use for fishing and trading.
• Tlaxtlahuilli were the exceptionally large transthalassan trade ships, specialized to survive long journeys and carry a large weight of cargo.
• Tema were smaller, lighter acalihuicas used mostly near the coast and between the inlets and islands of Zacapican. They are considered to be the closest to the original selk'nam design.
• Tlaxtema are mid-sized boats still in widespread use as fishing vessels and passenger ferries in Zacapican.