Temperamental Weather Gods
11 October 2017
Kim
If you're not superstitious, spending a little time at the equator on a boat might change your mind.
After being cooped-up inside all day sweltering in the heat with our hatches closed, and cringing as deafening cracks of thunder made the floorboards shudder beneath our feet, I realized that we neglected to toast Zeus when we crossed the equator.
We made a point of toasting Neptune to honour the age-old sailor's tradition, appealing to him for calm seas and pouring a splash of rum in the sea. It seemed to work perfectly. He bestowed us with glassy calm seas during our crossing. But in doing so, we must have inadvertently shunned Zeus (God of the Skies). Feeling under-appreciated with Neptune getting all of the attention, Zeus had a nasty temper tantrum, shooting lightening bolts and ear-splitting cracks of thunder, and dousing us with hours of torrential rain. Ill have to remember to fill a spray bottle with rum for our next passage...