28. A Rough Crossing
The Mayflower’s voyage proceeded smoothly at first. That changed, as the ship encountered bad weather and worse storms during the second half of the trip. On November 9th, 1620, 66 days after departing England – a voyage they had hoped would take a month – the Pilgrims finally spotted land at today’s Cape Cod. They were about 250 farther north than their original aiming point.
All else being equal, the Pilgrims would have simply sailed down the coast until they reached their intended destination. All else was not equal, however, and the Pilgrims faced a serious problem: they were out of beer. Back then, drinking water aboard ship was liable to go bad, especially on long voyages. Sea voyagers relied on beer as a drinking source that would not spoil. So running out of the brewed stuff was a big deal. Seen from that perspective, the Pilgrims’ making of a momentous decision because of beer does not seem so weird.