What am I talking about? The Tall Ship, Godspeed, that has been traveling from Jamestown to Baltimore and back, educating folks about the first permanent European settlement in the US- and the condition of the Chesapeake Bay, had to rush into Alexandria (VA) to ensure that Hurricane Michael would not create problems for the ship or its voyages.

After my daughter was born (and then again when my second was about 2 years old), I took the kids to visit Jamestown- the Virginia colony that began operations in 1607. (One of those trips was on the 14th of May, the official day the colony was established in 1607.)

The colony was populated with 39 souls who traveled on the Godspeed, with 58 more on the Susan Constant and 8 on the Discovery (the three ships making the voyage). While they reached Virginia (then the name for the entire East Coast, north of Florida) on 26 April, it was a spot on the James River where they finally settled the “colonists”. (The spot was a peninsula in 1607; now it’s been reduced to an island. While it was chosen as a good defense point from the Spanish navy, it was a terrible spot- marshy, poor quality water, and laden with disease carrying mosquitoes.)

The 109 folks (there were 13 crew members on each of the three ships) were all men (with a few boys thrown in for good measure). Bartholomew Gosnald and Edward Wingfield were major investors in the Virginia Company (the private firm chartered by King James to establish the colony) and were among the leaders of the colony. Captain John Smith, a mercenary, with battle experience in Hungary and the Netherlands, was another. The 3 other colony leaders were George Kendall, John Ratcliffe, and John Martin. (These leaders were chosen in London by the investors- and the names kept secret until their arrival at Jamestown.) The rest of the colonists were indentured servants, with a few skilled workers (craftsmen and farmers) added to the mix.

The voyage didn’t start auspiciously; the ships had to circle around the departing port until there was sufficient wind to make the first leg of the voyage to the Canary Islands (which are off the Western Coast of Africa). (This was during the brief respite when the Spanish did not control the islands.) From the Canary islands, the flotilla headed for the Caribbean. And, from there, northward to Virginia. From start to finish, the voyage took 144 days.  (It was just coincidence that the number of souls on the ships matched the voyage length.)

The reckoning (more refined than dead reckoning) used by the ships’ captains employed simple wooden instruments and sandglasses (several durations- 30 seconds, 30 minutes, and 1 hour were the typical ones). The captains primarily relied on the cross-staff (occasionally called Jacob’s staff). Basically, the user aligns the bottom of the transom (the cross-piece) with the horizon and the top of the transom with the bottom of the sun (or the star, Polaris, at night-time). This means one must move the transom forward or backward on the shaft, which has markings. With very little calculation, those markings denoted the latitude of one’s location.

The other instrument (ok, device) that the boats employed to make this voyage was a spool of rope (not any rope- this one  had knots tied every 48 feet and is called a log line) with float at the end of it. One dropped the float in the water and flipped a 30 second timer (sandglass). Then, as the water pulled the float (depending upon the speed of travel), one could count the number of knots that passed through one’s hands in a set time. If 10 knots passed through the hand in an hour- the speed of travel was… 10 knots!

Unfortunately, since the Godspeed arrived early, I didn’t get to see it with the sails unfurled. (They were stowed once the boat was docked at the Alexandria port.) The replica was pretty small (at least to me)- about 17 feet across with a 65 foot long top deck (about the same as its mainmast height of 71.5 feet).

Imagine what it was like to be stuck below deck for more than 100 days on a tiny ship? Would you consider making that voyage?

(Hence my comment on “colonists”.  But, then again, as an indentured servant, one would not get a great choice in the matter.)

Today is the 73rd anniversary of the formation of the United Nations.  Yes, that is all I will say about this institution, for which I- at least- had high expectations.  

Did you buy my book yet?  It will help you plan- and adjust your accounting- to accommodate the new rules that obtain under the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act.  (I also have that special offer for those of you with businesses.  That offer is listed here.)