I don't know, but we visited the life size replicas of his boats in Corpus Christi recently and I was surprised to see that the floor was a steep arch, so that water rolled off the sides of the boat. Also they were tiny for being transatlantic vessels. I also read a fiction recently called "The Diaries of Mrs. Columbus" that suggested Christipher Columbus' talent was in making detailed maps of Africa's coast. That showcased his geography talent enough to convince Ferdinand to finance his venture. That was a historical romance novel, so who knows how it really happened.
