It was a weekend of rituals onboard Green Dragon after they crossed the equator and King Neptune and Queen Codfish paid a visit to James Carroll (Green Dragon’s Boat Captain). This his second leg onboard the Dragon but his first equator crossing. This ceremony has a long history with its roots with Royal Navy, U.S. Navy, U.S. Coast Guard, and other navies which commemorates a sailor’s first crossing of the equator. Originally the tradition was created as a test for seasoned sailors to ensure their new shipmates were capable of handling long rough times at sea. Sailors who have already crossed the equator are nicknamed (Trusty) Shellbacks, often referred to as Sons of Neptune; those who have not are nicknamed (Slimy) Pollywogs. The ceremony is sometimes explained as being an initiation into the court of King Neptune.
Update onboard: Back on the race track the Doldrums had plenty of rain clouds and sail changes but the bottom line was we kept moving well in the right direction most of the time. It was crucial that we went well through this stage as 4 days of power reaching lie ahead of us. We are now settled into reaching in 20 knot NE Trade winds, which means we can rattle off over 400 miles per day straight at Boston - something that is unusual for this race so far. We have just broken the bearings in the starboard steering system but replacements are onboard and being fitted as I type. Clearly a whole week on the same tack was too much for it! The next few days should be tactically tedious but nice sailing. Once again we are settling into just trying to extract as much speed as we can from the Dragon.
