Captain Blog: 2/18/2022
The geolocation of 18r is heading towards the islands of Tristan De Cunha. The authors of Yale MS 408 spend a lot of time in this area because it was used as the rhumb line point. If you see from the map below to find those islands takes a great deal of geometry. One of the hardest problems with navigating Earth is that it shaped like and egg and bulges out at the Equator. If using the Prime Meridian(s) to find Tristan De Cunha or anything below that you will always get lost. The Folio 18r warns of this issue.
How the authors of MS 408 figured out how to find Tristan De Cunha is by the Catalan Atlas map of Poseidon. The grid that they used in order to map the Earth shifts over at the Equator. One must be aware of this shifting grid to calculate this far down South. You also have to be aware of the rhumb line and that longitude lines could not replace the rhumb line. The first symbol on 18r is a P, which is used throughout the manuscript as a surveyors marking indicating the prime meridian. The P is the grid line to tell the readers how to navigate at 28 degree West leaving the Falkland Islands.
Notice the two character after the “P”. In the cipher code it means “sr” but look at the characters – “sr” – 28 backwards. Matches the geoidal mathematics of 28 degrees West to the letter.
Another one of the mysteries that we have had is – how – without a reverse sail could they at this time sail against the wind. And this folio says exactly how they where doing it. Using a hawser sailors rope they would pull the ship with a smaller header ship with a reverse sail. This is what the Voynich has to say about folio 18r.
Voynichees to Latin Characters:
P sronsa soros gp aeor atuei soroh uuta || eutor soi
elvei jetuei uatua etuoi som sa || uei son
jetuer uer uuta (?) eruia jetuei sa || aluorh
uer uler etier atuei eton
luer ver ulom ulei uiei ueh
auatuer son alei uula sor || sorsoi
ever vom ula veisa seisa || seisom
jetuer utei eiesa etoisa || sora
uei uuloi etvei uatois
sor ver jeuei eiasom
reluom uetua uuteo uera
auoir ulei som jetua ula
er vom ulor uloi etoisor
auitua tuom
WORKING Translation:
The Prime nostrils (Catalan Atlas Poseidon Grid), disastrous guide point (a)/(e) radius. To operate confirm zero outward, the possessor grids wind is instrumental. The specters (the apparatus) hold the measurement secant arc time zone. Surveyor, the wind out (?) casts, instrumental secant arc passage. The wind settles the channel, operates towards and lures the lines in the water course. Fixed yield bearing vicissitude area enclosure forefront, confirmed. Like armor ever residual station, the pond treats same as its equal. Surveyor, in order to observe, fixed anchorage, a difficulty time. Boswine pipes the hawser rope seers, confirm the lines in the water, instrumental go(a)=sum. Re-read, it hunts amply, the direction of the wind having fixed measures the gates position. The former residual floors the flow, the anchor triangular raw approximation time(*)revolutions of Earth.
Tucker STEM Team 