Crossing the Line

Crossing the Line

It’s a first for Matt and Jack! On the 5th November 2025 at 0347 Palau time, we crossed the latitude of 0⁰ 0’ North (zero degrees and zero minutes) – in other words crossing the equator. Also known as ‘Crossing the line’ or ‘Sea Baptism’, it is a long running maritime tradition that takes place when a boat crosses the equator.

The tradition dates back to around 400 years ago and the suggestion is that it formed an important test to ensure the men you were sailing with, and thus dependent upon, were able seafarers (hmmm). A different interpretation is the superstition of needing to appease Neptune, the god of the sea before ‘crossing the line’ (this is easier to achieve).

There are many ways that sailors celebrate the tradition – in our case, we did the crazy costumes, a few shots of excellent rum and a respectful toast to Neptune (which resulted in the obligatory roadie). In my previous crossings of the equator, with my family, we did our version of the dunking ceremony – my kids loved chucking water over each other and their parents! I will add that the parents did also partake of a suitable beverage to toast Neptune also.

Wind Shift will be crossing the equator several times during our circumnavigation – check out our calendar of adventures <click here>