Half is not Halfway

halfway adverb – at or to a point midway between two others.

From an early age we were engrained with the concept of “halfway”. If grandma’s house was 20 miles away, we knew we were halfway there at 10 miles. It’s a simple concept – measure the distance between two points and divide it by 2. Half the distance = Halfway! However, that simple math is deceiving. Rarely are we able to follow the shortest distance between two points. Straight lines are easy with rulers and paper. They are elusive in real world spacial navigation.

So is the case with Queen’s Dream passage across the Atlantic. The distance from La Rochelle, France to Ft. Lauderdale, FL is measured at 4,000 miles across the North Atlantic. In her 19 days at sea, QD has sailed 2,536 miles. Enough miles to declare “we are halfway there”? The sobering answer is a firm no. Sailboats are unable to simply sail directly on a straight line. QD must ride the wind and constantly adjust headings depending on weather, waves, wind direction and wind speed. It is a calculated navigation exercise to find the shortest or quickest route for short segments and then readjust. In the end, QD will have sailed many more miles than 4,000 to complete the journey. It could easily be 5,500 miles. The winds will determine the final milage required.

Based on the current routing systems we have onboard; we feel we are nearing the elusive “halfway” mark of the passage in the next few days. The measurement is based on an estimate of how many days remain compared to how many days we have been at sea. The QD crew fully expects to observe a bright sign coming out of the water stating “You’re Halfway There” ….