Pot Lucks and Dead Ringers

On our visit to Stratford-Upon-Avon, we did more than take pictures of 400 year old houses and walk around in the pouring rain.  We also learned the origin of select Shakespearean idioms that don’t even give us pause today. 

So many of the things we say in everyday language, might seem ridiculous but are actually derived from real situations.  More specifically, when we say something like “Wow, it’s raining cats and dogs!” – most of us don’t expect that cats and dogs will be falling out of the sky when we open the door.  However, the derivation of that saying from hundreds of years ago was based on cats and dogs falling out of the sky, or something seemingly the same. 

We thought we’d share those with you.

Saved By The Bell - Back in the good 'ol 1600s, people were prematurely buried.  As graves were reused (I know, crazy stuff happening here), they began to realize people were buried alive by the scratch marks on the underside of the tops of coffins.  To help resolve this "problem" of burying dead people while they were alive, a bell would be placed next to the grave and if the dead (but not really dead) woke up, they could ring the bell and be saved.

Deadringer – Another problem with burying people who aren't dead.  If a person were to see someone in town who they had been to the funeral of the week before, they might say "You look just like ..." and the response would be "Oh, I am [that person].  I was a dead ringer" -  meaning they were buried alive, woke up, rung the bell and were saved by the bell.

Graveyard Shift - The one who kept watch for dead ringers.

Raining cats and dogs -  The roofs back in the 1600s were thatched and sometimes thinly.  Animals would take comfort on the straw, especially in times of inclement weather.  However, if it rained hard enough, the animals would fall through the hatch and it would be raining cats and dogs.

Going through thick and thin - King George I had mistresses, of course, who lived with him and essentially kept his attention and gave him direction on his affairs.  One mistress was overweight and the other was skinny so it was said you would have to go through "Thick and Thin" to get to the king.

Pot luck

Guests would be invited to a house for dinner and would not know what was being served.  They were resigned to having whatever was in the pot - leaving it up to luck.

The Midlands

After being in Plymouth for a couple weeks, Baxter and I decided to travel inland a bit.  We hired a car and set out to explore the Midlands including Solihull and Stratford-Upon-Avon.  We had fun with a LandRover Experience adventure and Baxter drove a Defender along the historic track that has been testing Land Rovers since 1947.  Through waist deep waters, across logs, up rocky hills and down steep slopes and staircases, the course was challenging and fun but no problem in the vehicles that were designed for this terrain.  To see a short video of the adventure, click here.

Next, we were off to the home of Shakespeare who was born, grew up, married, and died in Stratford-Upon-Avon.  Baxter and I have read and learned so much about Shakespeare that we wanted to visit this historic town.  After traveling around Ireland, we have realized that tours are a great way to get the lay of the land and learn things that might not be obvious by seeing the sights yourself.  When we arrived, it was a downpour, so we opted for a "hop on/hop off" bus tour.  Through fateful events, the bus driver ended up leaving before we could hop on.  So instead, we headed for the starting point of the walking tour, hoping the rain would end soon.  We also thought that since it was pouring rain, we would be the only participants on the walking tour.  Nope - just as crowded as any other day with at least ten people ready to know all the secrets of this small village.

Our tour guide, Barbara, has lived in this town for over 40 years and provided excellent details about Shakespere, his family and the origin of many sayings and words that are used in every day life.    Though he left Stratford-Upon-Avon for London when he was in his twenties, Shakespeare returned here to his wife and children after becoming a successful writer and actor and eventually died here.  We walked around for hours exploring different stages in his life and pivotal events that formed who he was as a writer and a person.  Every time we pick up a Shakespearean classic, we will always think back to the images and places in this quaint little village in the middle of England.

Click here for a quick video of the Land Rover Experience

Shakespeare's birthplace and where he lived with his wife and children, along with his parents, until he left for London in his twenties.

The Shakespeare family Coat of Arms

The Harvard House behind the grey van.  John Harvard's mother lived here in the 1600s and the family donated the money and land for what would become Harvard University.

The new house Shakespeare purchased upon returning to Stratford-Upon-Avon

This is the New Place that William Shakespeare purchased and moved his family to after returning as a rich and famous writer and actor

The Avon River.  The name Stratford-Upon-Avon means "The street upon the river Avon"

The door knocker on the church where Shakespeare is buried

The door is only about five feet high.  It's top is where the sign is in the middle of the arch.

The baptism and burial certificates of William Shakespeare.

The King James Bible was completed in 1610 when Shakespeare was 46 years old.  In Psalm 46, the 46th word from the beginning is 'shake' and the 46th word from the end is 'spear' (omitting 'Selah' which means end).  Coincidence, or did he have a hand in the revision of the bible? 

Shakespeare's Grave, along with his wife, one of his daughters and her husband

Thankful Third Thursday in November

Here in England, there really isn't such a thing as Thanksgiving, which only means we should take time on any ordinary Thursday to be thankful and grateful in our own way for the blessings of friends, family (both human and furry) and adventures in our lives.

On this beautiful autumn day, we celebrated with a walk on The Hoe, playing with sticks and a quick bit at Boston Tea Party for fritters and cake.  Tonight we'll have the traditional vegetarian roast, potatoes with gravy and such, just like any other Thursday in November on this side of the pond.

Happy Thanksgiving everyone!!

Kala hunting for sticks in front of the Royal Citadel

Beautiful day on The Hoe

Have I mentioned the Mayflower steps?  Perfect day to be here

Yum, Yum and Yum!  Lunch at BTP on Thanksgiving

Beautiful day on The Barbican

The Hoe and The Barbican

Two things we love about Plymouth are The Hoe and The Barbican.  Both for different reasons.

The Plymouth Hoe, or just "The Hoe" as the locals call it, is a great place to take a walk, or sit and relax, or just watch the boats sail in and out of the English Channel.  It is about half a mile from Sutton Harbor and perfect distance for taking Kala somewhere to run off leash.  The Hoe is filled with history dating back centuries ago and few things have changed since that time.  It is rumored that Sir Francis Drake, who was at one point Mayor of Plymouth, finished his game of bowls on the lawn of The Hoe while the Spanish Armada lined its ships outside of Plymouth before he victoriously waged his attack against them.

On the walk to The Hoe, a person walks past The Barbican.  The cobblestone streets of The Barbican are filled with shops, restaurants and souvenir stands.  It has everything from The Mayflower Steps to the Plymouth Gin distillery.  Fancy a pint?  There's no better place in Plymouth to find one than the Barbican.  

The map of The Hoe

The lawn of The Hoe with the Royal Citadel in the background.  Sutton Harbor is just around the corner to the left.  Could you imagine Drake playing a game of bowls here?

An hommage to Sir Francis Drake

Let's not forget the battles of vikings throughout England.  Given to the city of Plymouth by the Norwegians to honor the Vikings and their adventures in these waters.

This is the cornerstone of the Royal Citadel.  You can barely read the lettering towards the bottom, but you can see the year on the right side.  "Earle of Bath 1666"

Streets of The Barbican

Fancy a pint?

Patio seating with heaters along the wharf.

Get Back To Work

Since we were now in a place that we would be for a while, we have several boat projects that have been building and it was time to get to work.  Most of the projects we are able to work on ourselves but a couple of them would involve finding a professional to assist.  

First on the list was an engine service.  Sailing from the Chesapeake up to Canada, across the Atlantic to Spain, north to Ireland and east to England incurred hours on the engine and it was time to change all the engine oil, transmission fluid, the filters, check the water separator and fuel filters, check the impellers and make sure our Yanmar was happy.  Fortunately, our engine access is reasonably good - not as good as an engine room but pretty good considering Terrapin is a 1982.  

Next up - our compression post.  This is a steel rod that runs vertically next to the mast, into the cabin, down to the keel.  It helps the deck and the structure of the boat as it pounds into waves and flexes.  We had noticed a small crack in the base plate while offshore and knew it had to be managed at some point.  This would require removing the compression post, fabricating a new base plate and reinstalling.  

Another project we had been working on since Deltaville was our Jordan Series Drogue (JSD).  The JSD is a line that will have 132 jellyfish-like cones tied to it that will be deployed when wind speed and waves are so high, speed has to be reduced to prevent the boat from broaching (flipping upside down end over end).  This is a tool that we would like to have on the boat for extreme situations but really don't want to be in conditions that require its use.  It has been a big project to undertake and we have continued to work on it as time has been available.  We are almost done.

User manuals are critical information on the boat.  Since we have dozens of disparate systems that have to function together to move the boat forward comfortably, we need to make sure we have the appropriate information to fix each of those systems.  I had been able to keep the manuals together but my filing system had gotten out of control as new manuals had been added and systems replaced. Usually when you need the information, because something is not working, you don't have time to fumble through pieces of paper to find what you're looking for, so having the manuals organized helps to keep stress levels low.  

As long as we have had Terrapin, there have been issues that we have dealt with that didn't work as they should but they weren't critical and out attention was on other things.  As with any previously owned boat, sometimes things have been done incorrectly for some unknown reason and you are left with the legacy of a) figuring out what happened b) sorting it out so it works as designed, or as close as possible. Now was the time to fix the odds and ends that we had been putting off.  Like our deck light.  The deck light which shines down on the deck and the steaming light which shines out from the mast are wired together but have different switches on the electrical panel.  The problem was the deck light wouldn't turn on but the steaming light would and the root of the problem was not only the  lightbulb.  So, through hours and days of troubleshooting Baxter fixed it.  For the first time, we have a deck light that works when the deck light is switched on and a steaming light when the steaming light is turned on.  Turns out it was a bad switch, a bad relay and a bad lightbulb.  Hard to troubleshoot, but, he fixed it and it all works perfectly now. 

There were still a few things on our list but this was a good start and we had another five months left to finish the things we needed to get done.  

Time for an engine service.

The compression post is the metal rod that screws into the white post on the bottom.  You can see the base of the post has a small crack, caused by corrosion due to the aluminum of the mast and the stainless steel plate.

A new base would have to be fabricated so the riggers are getting all the info required.

Corroded metal turned to rubble.

Manuals, organized and labeled

A nice sunny day to work on the Jordan Series Drogue

Checking the wiring for the deck light and the steaming light (the wires go from the electric panel up the mast to the light)

The steaming and deck light above my head, but don't be fooled by my being up there - Baxter is the one with the magic touch.

Plymouth, UK

Plymouth, a city at the mouth of the river Plym, in Devon, England is our new home.  With it's cobblestone streets and historic landmarks like the Barbican, the Mayflower Steps, The Hoe, The Royal Citadel and the Royal William Yard - there is plenty to learn and do to keep us busy for a while.  The best part is it was all walking distance from the marina.

Like Falmouth, and as mentioned before, so many landmark voyages and sailors have departed from Plymouth, such as the first colonization voyage to New Zealand, Australia, and the United States.  Expeditions including those with Sir Frances Drake, James Cook, Darwin, Shackleton, and so many others.  Captain Bligh (Mutiny on the Bounty) was baptized right down the street at St Andrews.

Another notable mention is the strong military presence in Plymouth, with the Royal Citadel (still active military) and the Royal William Yard (no longer MOD).  These strongholds may seem like an advantage, but during WWII, they were the detriment of the city, becoming a target of German aggression.

Less than 75 years ago, planes dropped bombs flattening the city of Plymouth.  To put this in perspective, Germany is about 700 miles from Plymouth (450 from London).  That would be like Idaho attacking Utah, Ohio bombing Michigan, Alabama bombing Georgia.  Never having an international war on US soil, it is difficult to imagine the devastation right out your front door but it was real.  There are still scars from the bombs and some of the half-shelled buildings have been left in place as a reminder.  Other landmarks were left in rubble and dust.  But consider this, there are no grudges held over from the war.  Germans come and go, cross borders, buy houses, become neighbors, just as much as any other European.  We should all take a lesson in letting the past go.

So, we walked around Plymouth, learning as we went about history and about...beaches and where doggies can run.  Kala doesn't really care about the Mayflower or WWII so off we were in the dinghy to find fun places to run and swim (she also doesn't care that the water is about 55 degrees).  It is fortunate that Plymouth is just as, if not more, dog friendly than Falmouth and we are lovin' it!  Kala goes with us to lunch and lays at our feet just like she does at home on the boat.  It makes life so much easier for us to explore when we can take her along.

There was a lot to see and we were just beginning to scratch the surface.

The Hoe overlooking the Plymouth Harbor

A view of The Hoe (left) and the corner of the Royal Citadel (concrete structure on right) from the channel into Sutton Harbour.  You can see the light house on The Hoe, just left of center in the background.

The last place the people aboard the Mayflower ever stepped in England.  They never returned after colonizing America.

The Mayflower steps from the water - it is in the center, below the white house in the center - you can see the "balcony" as it stretches over the water.

Virginia and North Carolina Colonization by Sir Walter Raleigh

Newfoundland Colonization

Bermuda - by accident - Colonization

That's a long trip - with a fun adventure around Cape Horn, going the wrong way

Lunch time for my peeps

Plymouth Gin Distillery - on the list of "To-do's"

A bevy of swans lives in Plymouth.  There are at least 20 of them.

At low tide, across from the marina.  Their wings are extremely powerful.  When they take off in flight, it sounds like a train going by.  

Beaches, my dinghy, and sticks - best things in the world

Happy Dog

Very happy dog