I feel it is time I added an histerical aspect to this thread, histery being my bag.
So, I will tell you a tale of the Norsemen and their impact on civilization. Many of you will know that the Vikings travelled to the Mediterrannean, via the rivers of what is now Russia. And there they found in use a type of boat, known as a caique, which is still in use round there to this day. They are fine looking, practical vessels, well suited to their task of carrying freight, passengers or fishermen. One Norseman, Eric the Unlikely, was so impressed that he purchased one, with the intention of introducing its use into the Norwegian Fjords.
Now, the quickest way to Norway from the Med. is via the Atlantic, the English Channel and the North Sea (to use their modern names, thereby hiding my ignorance of what they were called at the time by pretending to pander to my readers' lack of knowledge of this period
) And this is the route that Eric set out on, late in September in the year ninehundred and blank. It is fine in the Mediterranean at that season, and he did well. When he reached the Atlantic, however, he encountered contrary gales that delayed him by blowing him almost to Madeira. (He didn't know that, or he might have overwintered in that delightful isle - but it hadn't beeen discovered yet, so he couldn't do that without altering history) By the time he reached the North Sea, it was early November, and the weather had turned very cold indeed. Added to which, the winds were contrary - as they usually are when you are in a hurry. There is probably a law of nature to describe this phenomenon
Eric began to run short of food, and to get very cold indeed. He was afraid of hypothermia - or would have been, had the term been thought of by then. So he built a big fire on the deck, in the place where he usually did the cookiong. This was a great comfort, and he felt much better, even to the point where he was no longer so worried about his hunger. The firs began to die down, so he piled on the remains of his fuel, hoping that the wind would change and blow him home swiftly.
It did no such thing, of course!
He ran out of fuel, so he used his wooden shield. Still the wind did not blow the right way. He used all of his luggage and all of the things he'd bought in the souvenir shops along the Mediterranean,
Still the wind blew contrary-wise.
He pulled down the sails and burnt them (they were blowing him away from Norway, anyway, he reasoned)
Then he pulled up the seats and burnt them.
At last - he pulled the off sides of the boat as fuel and the inevitable happened. Waves came over the sides and swamped the boat, not only quenching the fire, but sinking the vessel.
Which just goes to show that you can't have your caique and heat it.
