Tuesday Nov 4th – Day Three
“Give me a spirit that on this life’s rough sea loves t’have his sails filled with a lusty wind, even till his sail-yards tremble; his masts crack, and his rapt ship run on her side so low that she drinks water and her keel plows air; There is no danger to a man, that knows what life and death is: there’s not any law, exceeds his knowledge; neither is it lawful That he should stoop to any other law. He goes before them, and commands them all, That to himself is a law rational.”
George Chapman 1608
This English seafarers’ poem published in the early 17th century describes at once our joys and dangers today. We raised our mainsail at 7am this morning and once free of Hawks Nest sailed up the west side of Grand Turk. Thence across the Columbus Passage with a forceful northeast wind and 8 to 12 foot rollers from the north. Columbus experienced nothing like this on the fourth day of his exploring the Lucayan Islands, but despite the contrary weather we were able to study the north side of the Caicos Islands and their impressive reef. Owing to the distance sailed it now seems improbably that Columbus might have reached Malcolm Roads on the northwest side of Providenciales as presented in the provisional itinerary. As is noted in his log and will be discussed tomorrow, Columbus sees another island to the west.