Transatlantic Voyage - Day 7

We are sailing now into the Tropic of Capricorn, south of the equator. This is the southernmost latitude where the Sun can be seen directly overhead. Its northern equivalent is the Tropic of Cancer.

This is also where astrology’s Capricorn constellation becomes visible in the night sky.

We are traveling at a speed of 5 knots (a little less than top speed) and we have crossed roughly 800 miles of the Atlantic as we head to Lisbon. I always wondered where the term “knot” came from. Here’s the story from the United States Ocean Service and NOAA: “Knots are used to measure (nautical) speed. One knot equals one nautical mile per hour, or roughly 1.15 statute mph.”

The term “knot” dates from the 17th century, when sailors measured the speed of their ship using a device called a “common log.” The common log was a rope with knots at regular intervals, attached to a piece of wood shaped like a slice of pie. Mariners would lower the wood piece into the water and allow it to float freely behind the ship for a specific amount of time (often measured with an hourglass). When the time was up, they would count the knots between the ship and the piece of wood, and that number estimated their speed.”

Provided this crucial knowledge, we make for the galley (that’s kitchen to you landlubbers).

Foods for a lunch and dessert include: foie gras fried in olive oil, with bread and apple strudel, mango rice pudding with coconut, peach tart, walnut ice cream or lemon sorbet.

Once again, I pray for restraint and another trip to the gym and then muse as I walk the ship’s decks outside.

When at sea, you begin to notice the details all around you that you might otherwise miss: the clouds, the water, the sky, and the sun, and the reflections of all of these things together. In time, they begin to marinate you.

You especially can’t help noticing the sea birds in all of their aerobatic glory. I caught an image of a black strap booby as it swooped along the bow of our ship. And then, a friend that I will tell you more about shortly, Francis Hurteau, sent the gift of these beautiful photos that he took onboard with his camera the past couple of days.

Enjoy.