IN 1492 Columbus sailed the ocean blue...goes the old poem.

I had the occasion to visit the replica of the flag ship of Christopher Columbus.  It was amazing.  It was hand built in Brazil, no power tools, using the same 500 year old. building techniques.  If you have ever sailed, it was hard to imagine how a crew of 25 could have set out in hope of finding the new world, not knowing where they were going, and thinking the world was flat.  It was loaded down with supplies and livestock, and the crew had to sleep when and where possible on the deck.  You really had to be on the ship to get the full impact of this historic feat.  On top of that, the most important piece of equipment was the long boat, which sits top side and is the only link between the boat and land.  Without this transportation, any cruise is doomed.      

Looking at how the ancient rudder and tiller were set up, I was thinking of the brave crew using that to to steer this vessel, especially in a stormy sea.   And there there was the story of how the Nina, was the flagship of a 17 ship flotilla going back to the new world on the second voyage.  When all the other ships were lost at sea, except the Nina during a hurricane in 1495.  There were 100 survivors from the 16 other ships, and those people and the Nina crew, 127 people were crammed on this one little vessel and they made the voyage back home to Spain together. What a trip that must have been.

It made me pause and be proud.  Proud to be a part of the human race, part of such hardy stock that would even attempt such a voyage, and be successful.. The spirit of humankind, to push on, to explore, to take risks and face challenges and untold hardships.  We are still part of that spirit.  We need to rekindle that spirit today.  We need to continue to reach out and find me worlds and re embrace man's innate sense and need to explore and find new worlds.  It has always been, and I hope it will always be.  Where could we be and where will we be in 500 years from now?  Get on the deck of the Nina, and your thoughts might surprisee you.  

Comments

[Rodger Seelert]

You wax so eloquently, my friend.