Sailing to America: The Pilgrim Voyage on the Mayflower

September 6, 1620
Trevor's Journal
Marin, Dominik and I are dressed in these very interesting pilgrim outfits and are about to board the Mayflower with the rest of the pilgrims on this historical day. The Pilgrims already tried two times to leave England, and both attempts failed because the other ship they were to use, the Speedwell, kept leaking. They finally ditched the Speedwell and are just going to use the Mayflower instead.
There are a 102 people in line to get onto this ship that's headed for America- crew not included. With the crew included, there's about another thirty, which brings the grand total up to 132 people getting on this ship. Can you imagine- 132 people are going to ride this ship for 66 days, together, in a ship that's only about 100 feet in length from the tip of the prow (that pointy thingy at the front of the ship) to the tip of the stern. (the back part of the boat.) Let's not even mention the rest of the dimentions- but I will anyways, for history's sake. I think the deck is about twenty-five feet across from side to side, and that's at the widest point. There are three levels on the boat, but guess what? The ship can only hold 180 caskets of wine at a time. Apparently this is a merchant's ship.
These people are braver than me. I'm coming along because I have to get 4T2. (Trevor's Time Travel Teleport 2) I hid it on the Mayflower four years ago, when I made the first voyage on the ship. In fact I need to keep an eye out for myself, he no doubt will recognize me...
Ahem, back to the subject about the Mayflower. That is why I'm writing in this journal, so I don't forget any of the facts about the ship this time. I forgot them all last time!
Ah, I see Mr. William Bradford is here. He's a good man. He later was the one who came up with the idea of creating a Mayflower Compact. This was because Mr. Bradford was worried when he noted that a lot of the men didn't care one bit about the rules of the Pilgrims. Actually, a lot of these people that are in line today are not Pilgrims at all. We've got three groups here today- Separatists, (aka, the Pilgrims) Sympathizers (they're not Separatists, but they feel bad about the persecution that's happened to them. More on that later) and Hired Hands. Hired Hands are just along for the ride and to help out.
Knowing how the voyage is going to go once we get on sea, I remembered that Mr. Bradford was upset that a lot of the men didn't care about rules and wanted to have their own liberty and do what they want. So when we reach Massachusetts (we actually aren't trying to go to MA, we're trying to get to north New York, but a storm blows the Mayflower off course and we end up in Cape Cod) Mr. Bradford is going to have everyone draw up a compact that sets the rules for the community they're going to settle. Every male head of the family is going to have to sign that compact, if they want to go on land. Actually Mr. Bradford is quite smart- they had to sign it before they went to shore. That means a lot of them signed it probably because they wanted to go to shore, but it worked out in the end, didn't it? The compact became the first form of democracy.
It's almost time to board the ship. I'm a bit anxious, I just want to find 4T2 and get off, but we may end up stuck on the ship if I'm not fast. To be honest, I don't actually remember where I stuck that watch. Somewhere where I didn't want anyone to find it. But now I can't even remember where it is! Probably shouldn't let Marin or Dominik know that.
Oh, you know those pictures you see of pilgrims wearing black and white clothes with weird belt-buckle hats on their heads? That's not what they wear. It's a common misconception. They wear a variety of colors. One lady here, Mrs. Mary Ring, is wearing a pink blouse, a brown skirt with flowers on it and a brown hat. I find it odd that all the pictures you see of pilgrims in the future depict them wearing only black and white. How dull. In truth, they're fine with a variety of colors, which is nice. Black and white is very grey.
I'm going to have to go now. People are starting to board. Marin's pulling my arm, telling me to stop writing. In conclusion, I'll address that topic I mentioned earlier: The sympathetic people who are boarding this ship are not Pilgrims. They don't have the same beliefs. I believe some of the Pilgrims refer to them as "strangers", but not all of them. They're just wanting to make a new life in America, just like everyone else. See, you learn something new everyday, don't you?
Time to board. Hopefully we'll find 4T2 and be off of this ship lickedy-split...


Little Known Fact: Most people don't realize that the Pilgrims did not name Plymouth, Massachusetts, for Plymouth, England. In fact, the Pilgrims didn't name it at all- previous explorers did! It was sheer coincidence that the Mayflower departed from the harbor Plymouth in England and ended up in Plymouth harbor Massachusetts. Remember, they weren't originally aiming for Massachusetts, but New York. 

Today in History: To be honest, nothing exciting happened on this day. Someone named Gustaf Bonde, a Finnish-Swedish politician, died. And today was a Tuesday 395 years ago. Not too much happened. Perhaps the children of 1620 are doing a history lesson, even as we read this... who knows? Someone must have been, for by 1650 there were half a billion people living in the world. So you can know that 395 years ago, some child who may even be your age was doing a history lesson. Just like you!