No great discovery was ever made without a bold guess.
Isaac Newton
R
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Some people would call this the creation day, I don’t think so.
Day Cero They filled all the hull early this morning with all kind of food provisions; every kind of salted, non salted fish, few chickens and three cows. There was merely any space for the crew, I am afraid that many of them will sleep very close to each other. The whole situation is overwhelming. I am starting to get a bit nervous. Everyone seemed so excited, but I want to be realistic and don't get too excited before starting our journey. Ok, I am really excited it's just that I don't want to create all those high expectations, I just want to have fun with it as I have always done in my other journeys. The harbour is crowded. Bristol is well known for it's vivid atmosphere but today is full of boats and people, it's making me feel under pressure and I would say that the crew is sharing those feelings too. It must be around 10 o'clock right now, the sky is clear and the water quite warm. The captain it's finishing all the little bit and bobs, hopefully we will depart soon.
T N E
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way, By the
I forgot to introduce myself, my name is Matthew.
With all those mixed feelings one over thinks and don't do things properly. The captain is on board, so there we go. Everyone is on their place, they are all expert sailors anyway except Ed, or Edward, as his father calls him. He must hate it, I can see it on his face. Ed might be around 15 years old, his father, Charles is one closest sailors to the captain. He decided that this would be a good start for Ed to get into the merchant profession. He is rather skinny and shy boy compared to all those robust men of our crew. Even the captain looks quite stylish compare to the crew. He is an Italian man. As far as I can tell he seems to know what he wants and seems to have a clear idea of how to manage this situation. Everyone on board admires him, but what can we say, we have just depart from the harbour right now.
back e W
can't
k loo
now Bristol has disappeared completely from our view, from now on we will look forward hoping for the best.
I am Bristol born and bred, but I have been sailing few times already, so I am not very scared, I think i know what I am doing. I know the Atlantic a little bit I guess. In previous times I have gone down the Atlantic to the bay of Biscay and back. I know it's not a big deal, but I've got some experience at least. On my way there I had the chance to get to know France a little bit, they have good wine there, that is what everyone liked mainly. It was a memorable journey I would say. Regrettably I am the only one who remembers what happened there, convenient lapses of memory for the crew most probably. Anyway, even if I haven't been around that much I am coming from a family that has a little bit from everywhere. I think that my family's background comes from all over the place. It is mixture of Portuguese, Indian and Arabic, we all have different characteristics as part of our heritage. It's part of the development of our massive family. Ok, you look a bit surprised, the truth is that my family has been always in the merchant industry, did I told you about it already? Well, the thing is that we have earned our reputation along the way, that is why I am involved on this journey in the first place. If we take for truth what my old uncle Anthony says, then my family has been around sailing constantly since the beginning 13th century, or at least our origins come from there. We are the Caravel family, quite a complex one, it is just so many of us. To be honest we are rather small in comparison with others, but we are quite fast, or at least I would like to think so, maybe I have got the chance to test it later. Who cares anyway, two centuries later here we are in our way to the ocean once again.
Yesterday was quite boring, not the best start really.
Day One Not to much to say, I am sure I mentioned this already, we have to keep the expectations down, this crew is over excited and I suspect that animal are a bit scared of them right now, so much hyperactivity around, unbelievable. You must be thinking what are our plans. Well the captain’s plan is to get to the Far East. John, the captain, came across with this idea that there might be a shortcut to get there. As I overheard from conversations in the crew there are two ways to get there right now. One of the routes is going south, all the way down to South Africa through the South Atlantic Ocean and then up through the Indian Ocean. Apparently it is too hot for them and there aren’t many chances for them to survive. So the other way is just crossing the Atlantic. My dad said that he was crazy, but I thought that was quite interesting, plus this happened before even though dad would never recognise it. Among humans the main believe is that the world is plain, but we know it’s not. Uncle Greg told me that it is actually round and that Cabot, Captain John, was right. Apparently you can see a curve on the horizon, not a straight
Ok, I am at the Bristol Channel right now
line. Plus, when I see a family member coming from far away I see their masts first slowly coming up until I get to see them completely, so I believe is true, but we have to prove it.
in the horizon.
and yes, I do see e n i l e v r u c a
It is getting dark now. We have been here since yesterday. The crew stars to blame me, but It is not my fault and they should know it, aren’t they expert sailors? Then deal with it. I am just waiting for the right wind. I think John understands the situation though, he is planning all the journey surrounded by all his tools. I wonder what is he measuring though, if he doesn’t know the way, how can he plan it? I saw him folding something similar to a map before, I though that was rather strange. Maybe my father is right and he is a convincing crazy man after all. He’s got so many things in there though, he must be really into it. It seems that we will spend another night out here jus waiting, I just hope we don’t get any storm or anything like that. I know i shouldn’t, but I am scared of them. I won’t tell to anyone, obviously but I was lucky enough to don’t sail under those conditions yet, so I hope it continues like that for a while. There won’t be anything that I can do, but the crew doesn’t look ready for that king of challenge right now. Specially Ed. He is the only one I feel comfortable with, well, and the animals, I see them as only ones with patience enough to do this journey. I don’t even know the rest of their names yet, they look a bit grumpy and htey are extremely noisy. See what happens, at least we well enjoy a beautiful night tonight, the weather it’s warm, it is very peaceful in here, and I can see the shore. and some others like me around here, just here enjoying the soft relaxing bouncing, I just hope we have a quiet night and the crew doesn’t get too embarrassedly excited like in my other trips to France.
Position: 52° 12.2 N; 11°07.2 W Wind Speed: SE 9 knots Speed: 1-2 knots Course: 330° Sea State: flat, calm Visibility: poor Sea Temp.: 12.8°C Temp.: 9°C Sails Set: full sail
I've got the wind finally. I was starting to worry little bit last night, but yes it happened. Finally.