Here be Dragons

“’Here there be Dragons” was a phrase written on old maps to indicate unchartered waters. Ancient cartographers didn’t really know what was out there before the great explorers had touched all the four corners of the globe. What was beyond the explored region was a question mark. Sailors spawned the tales of mythical monsters that existed beyond the known horizon. While some of the stories told by the sailors proved to be true, plenty of other facts and fictions made their way around the world as ships were lost, strange creatures were seen through the fog, and new and (presumably) terrifying things were witnessed by people who relied on superstition to keep them safe thousands of miles away from everything they knew.

Queen’s Dream has been at sea for 27 days and covered 3,200 miles of deep blue water as her Atlantic crossing progresses. As the days and nights click by, the view of the 360-degree horizon only changes by the shapes of clouds, colorful sunrises, and sunsets. The unending vastness conjures thoughts of what the ancient nautical explorers must have been thinking as they crossed these uncharted waters centuries ago. What was over the horizon just out of sight? Is there an edge to fall from? Are there Monsters?

The modern world civilization laughs at those ancient beliefs and quickly dismisses them as silly and trivial. However, as the QD crew sits at her helm day after day and night after night, there is time to ponder such silly things. The quiet slap of the waves from the boat wake forms a methodical tempo. The mind drifts and eventually visualizes what it would have been like to be sailors plowing forward into what seems like an eternal horizon. The apprehension of the unknown can be felt as if magically ported back to those centuries of exploration. Fortunately, QD and her crew have the modern knowledge to know what awaits. No Dragons to slay …