Brian Stern
👤 SpeakerAppearances Over Time
Podcast Appearances
He might be tired that hour.
Next guy comes in, glances at the compass, thought the previous course looks right enough, but he's off by a degree.
This time, it's just easier on his shoulders because he's sore.
He was working out.
Third man distracted by a story he was telling drifted another degree.
And so it goes on night after night, watch after watch.
Not one of them choosing the wrong course.
Not one of them saying, all of them believing we're going to London.
But just a tiny misjudgment.
Not wrong, just not right.
Almost right, by one degree.
One degree at a time.
Well, by the end of the first week, the ship is now 10 degrees off course.
No one noticed.
Sea looks the same.
Wind still feeling the sails.
Daily log steady as she goes.
Second week, the drift is now 20 degrees.
Officers shrug.
We'll correct it tomorrow.