Detour to History.

= Newport News.
- From Florida to Newport R. I

- I drove 1800 Miles. This is the USA for you! It takes a notion of distances to realize how big this country is. Glad I came trough in a car rather than on a Cattle Wagon. The detour is about going to Norfolk to Newport News. Clearly, I am attracted to the word Newport; from Nieuwport in Belgium to Newport Beach California, to Newport Vermont, Newport Beach CA. etc. The list is long for a remembering sailor.



- My interest in the detour was partly dictated by my daughter; Daddy you have to go to see the Maritime Museum. She is the same, when as a very young child and driving along the harbor shore of Newport R. I to the Ida Lewis Yacht Club and while strapped into her chair in the back of the car, she would say in a loud voice;
" Daddy look, look Daddy. Boats. Look Daddy boats! " So dutifully, I inclined my direction to Newport News giving the opportunity.

- Well, it tended to be a quick Tour. Running out of time, I had to go around rather fast to be on the road again. But very worthwhile for the one hour spent there. The exhibits are superclass, the extent attributed to Maritime History, Technology and the Future are shown in very well balanced and distributed Rooms.

- In particular, I retain for the sake of remembrance to show you a couple of things that stuck to my attention. Maybe you know, maybe you do not, but I am always attracted to reduce time to build anything. Maybe spending too much of my own time to figure it out. Anyway, the caption "100 days to Build a warship". was intriguing. Only to be followed by the building of a Liberty Ship; the Lego boat. I read somewhere that the record for building one of those was 17 days. Man, we cannot do anything anymore in seventeen days!

- Now fast forward. I was surprised because not aware that the Catamaran Oracle, winner of the America's Cup is part of a very large display. Of course, the sheer size of the boat takes some space to accommodate. Being interested in foiling, looking straight at the appendages brought to me a few conclusions: they are there to stay, and stay indeed in our future on and in the water.