By the 5th century BCE mariners in the Mediterranean were making notes about landmarks and other coastal features. The documents were called a ‘periplus’  which means sailing around. The earliest of these to survive was made by Scylax in the survive of the Persian king Darius the Great  in the 6th century BCE. He describes sailing from the Nile to the Gates of Hercules (the strait of Gibraltar) and many other shorter routes. he describes how long it takes and problems with mud and shoals on some routes.

(Book – The Discoverers : A History of Man’s Search to Know His World and Himself – Daniel J. Boorstin)