165 - THANKSGIVING DAY 2024

The Atlantic is a monster in autumn. And her violent rages have claimed countless ships over the ages. But this crossing was especially bad. The Pilgrims spent the whole time cramped below deck. Trapped in a dark, cold, and wet cargo hold. Crouching because the ceilings were too low for them stand. Breathing in the stench of rancid puke, which slushed around their feet as the Mayflower was rocked by ocean swells. Sometimes, the storms were so severe that her crew had no choice but to lower the sails and let the Mayflower drift for days on end. The gales were so powerful they would have ripped off her masts and left them all stranded. One pilgrim who did venture on deck was swept overboard. Luckily for him, quick-witted sailors were able to throw him a line and pull him from the ocean before he drowned. But he learned his lesson. After 66 grueling days at sea, on the morning of November 9, 1620, Mayflower's crew espied Cape Cod. As the sun was rising behind them. They had finally reached the New World. And just in time for winter. 004 The Mayflower has successfully made it across the Atlantic, though she sustained a lot of damage along the way and was almost wrecked. The pilgrims intended to land on the mouth of the Hudson River. However, traumatized and exhausted from crossing the Atlantic, with the Mayflower severely damaged, they dropped anchor in Cape Cod Bay. Another child was born a few days later. They named him Peregrine, from the Latin Peregrinus — which means "one who has travelled from distance lands". He was their first American.