At Sea
Our first day at sea between the Canaries and the Cape Verde archipelagos, and at 3:30 on a warm afternoon we crossed the line of the Tropic of Cancer at 23 degrees 30 minutes North latitude. Despite several keen pairs of eyes scanning the sea around, it was not until noon that a few seabirds called Storm Petrels appeared. This was fortunate, for it allowed us to listen, spellbound, to Tim Severin’s account of his second voyage. Before the successful conclusion of his Brendan project, that he had told us about earlier, he had conceived the idea of re-creating the adventures of the most legendary sailor in history —Sinbad of the Sea. In 1979, Tim was surprised to learn that his preliminary ideas had found favor with Sultan Qaboos, the ruler of Oman. Tim was given royal carte blanche to build an authentic replica of an Omani ocean-going trading Dhow, and sail it from Muscat to China. Not only would this confirm that the Sindbad stories from the 1001 Nights were based on real journeys, it would remind the world of historic Omani sailing prowess. The “Sohar” was built under Tim’s supervision, using traditional design, materials and techniques. He, with a crew of Omanis and Europeans, followed the historic, and hazardous, Arab-trading route to Calicut in India, through the Straits of Malacca and on to Canton in China. A presentation well worth missing some oceanic birdlife.
In the afternoon Art Cooley entertained us with a talk about the pleasures of birding, intended for those of us less familiar with the fast-growing hobby, but of great interest to the more experienced birders aboard, as well. During re-cap, William recounted the wonders of the Agarve family and Michael dispelled some myths about Columbus.
The evening concluded with a sumptuous open-air barbecue served on the after deck, decorated with flags of several nations represented among our shipmates.
Our first day at sea between the Canaries and the Cape Verde archipelagos, and at 3:30 on a warm afternoon we crossed the line of the Tropic of Cancer at 23 degrees 30 minutes North latitude. Despite several keen pairs of eyes scanning the sea around, it was not until noon that a few seabirds called Storm Petrels appeared. This was fortunate, for it allowed us to listen, spellbound, to Tim Severin’s account of his second voyage. Before the successful conclusion of his Brendan project, that he had told us about earlier, he had conceived the idea of re-creating the adventures of the most legendary sailor in history —Sinbad of the Sea. In 1979, Tim was surprised to learn that his preliminary ideas had found favor with Sultan Qaboos, the ruler of Oman. Tim was given royal carte blanche to build an authentic replica of an Omani ocean-going trading Dhow, and sail it from Muscat to China. Not only would this confirm that the Sindbad stories from the 1001 Nights were based on real journeys, it would remind the world of historic Omani sailing prowess. The “Sohar” was built under Tim’s supervision, using traditional design, materials and techniques. He, with a crew of Omanis and Europeans, followed the historic, and hazardous, Arab-trading route to Calicut in India, through the Straits of Malacca and on to Canton in China. A presentation well worth missing some oceanic birdlife.
In the afternoon Art Cooley entertained us with a talk about the pleasures of birding, intended for those of us less familiar with the fast-growing hobby, but of great interest to the more experienced birders aboard, as well. During re-cap, William recounted the wonders of the Agarve family and Michael dispelled some myths about Columbus.
The evening concluded with a sumptuous open-air barbecue served on the after deck, decorated with flags of several nations represented among our shipmates.
