King of the North
Day 7 : Ascension Island to Azores
Thursday, March 24th 2022
I had a brainwave a few days ago, and decided that it was time to re-watch Game of Thrones from start to finish.
Unless you’re one of those strange people who never got into it at all (inexplicably, there’s definitely a few of you out there), then you quite likely had a similar viewing experience to me first time around: binge watching each season as it was released; spending a year being frustrated waiting for the next season to come out; and then spending the first third of each new season trying to remember all the multiple story threads from the season before.
It didn’t help that every male character (with the exception of the Lannisters) looked damn near identical. And the lighting in half the scenes was so dark that it was often half over before you’d worked out who was figuring in it.
Anyway, with the exception of the lame final season, it was still magnificent TV, and it occurred to me that by re-watching it beginning to end, not only could I finally follow the entire story without getting lost, but it would also fit the rhythms of this passage perfectly.
Not because I have a penchant for violently murdering wedding guests, or marrying Dothraki warlords and giving birth to dragons, but because the one-hour episode lengths give me much more flexibility around my watch schedule, and remove the need to select a movie, as I’d previously been trying to do.
And so it was fitting that on the very day that the episode I was watching featured the demise of Ned Stark, we should 20 minutes later, cross the equator, and give me the opportunity to reclaim the now vacant role of King of the North.
We took the sails down, dove into the crystal-clear waters to physically swim across the clearly visible line (individually, I might add), and then bent the knee to the one true King - Neptune (first of his name), in the form of a toast with Takamaka Rum, before resuming our long sail to the North where we expect to encounter many wildlings and doubtless quite a few dwarves and eunuchs.
It wasn’t lost on us that our quick dip was likely the last swim in the ocean we’ll have before sailing to the Mediterranean in approximately 2024 (according to the latest schedule).
With no wind, a sweltering 34 degrees, and the ocean temperature a bath-like 31 degrees, it was wonderful to cool ourselves down just a little.
But by the time we reach the Azores, we’ll be down to 16 degrees max daily temperature, and goodness knows how cold the water will be. Then onwards to the UK, where the only people who venture into the ocean are small children being punished by their parents for various misdemeanours, and gibbering idiots whose vocabulary is limited to uttering “Hodor” to every conceivable stimulus.
Once we make it to the wastelands of Scotland, on the other side of The Wall (Hadrian’s Wall, that is), an entire country of white walkers awaits us. With their drawn and rotting skin, horrifying diet and uncanny resemblance to Keith Richards on crack, they are the stuff of nightmares, at least as far as Westminster is concerned.
We, on the other hand, expect to feel right at home, among our people.
All hail, the King of the North, for winter is coming!
Day 7 Statistics:
Time on passage so far: 6 days, 21 hours
Distance covered in last 24 hours: 97 nm
Average Speed in last 24 hours: 4.0 knots
Official Length of intended Route when we set out: 3,480 nm
Current Projected Distance to Go according to chart plotter: 2,672
Distance Sailed so Far: 848 nm
Total Projected Distance of Route: (2,672 + 848) 3,520 nm
Change in total projected distance in last 24 hours: +10 miles (in order to keep sailing we needed to head NE, when our actual track was NW, adding an extra 10 miles to our overall distance
Motoring hours on Day 7: 6
Amount of fuel used so far from 350 litre ITCZ fuel budget: 72 litres (13 hours x 5.5 l/h)
Estimated miles to go until end of ITCZ : 306
Amount of motoring miles remaining in budget: 278
(we are finally out of wind – have been motoring non stop since 1am, and looks like it will be at least another 48 hours before we’re able to sail again)
Number of times Jen had to tell me to shut up when I would find myself unwittingly humming along to the theme music (loudly) when we were watching GoT the first time around – EVERY. DAMN. EPISODE.
