Kookie

Looks like Granger may face contempt and discourteousy from both Berry and the French. Will be watching closely how this all transpire.

The long trek to Egypt has begun and Granger is in a good mood. Let's hope Jardine does not spoil the trip. The question in my mind is will Granger get there in time to partake in the Battle of the Nile. If he does I do not see him idly standing by as an observer.

First Mark, I am sorry to hear about your friend. My sympahties to his all his family and friends. I am sure many other of the Bridgemont faithful agree with me. I question leaving Bacchante to sail. Afterall, Bertie does not know about the other frigate or ships under british flag and I doubt it is in the best interest for George to stay in Aboyna for an extended period. With Maidstone appearing to cave in, I wonder if Maidstoe has not arranged for the Bacchante to be attacked.

Asssuming Bertie and Chartley are both still in Aboyna, they would still have some major influence with any military presence on the island, as Chartley is a Brigadeer, and Bertie a colonel. Even if they were "retired" from active duty would still command a deal of respect from that quarter, probably more than a marine Captain. Having stated that, I believe Dr. Jackson will be able to acquire proper medication for Granger and when Maidstone makes his move George will be better prepared for him. With Granger sick, he has a justifiable reason for not immeadiately reporting to Govenor (ie Maidstone) and if Bertie and/or Chartley are still there they can provide Granger with current situation there before deciding how to proceed. As far as the Dr., with a Kings Pardon and a Kings officer I am guessing Jackson is out of reach of Maidstone, but would also imagine the Dr will not be visiting the island until Grainger is better abd the situation resolved. Unfortunately, my take on Grainger coming down with the fever means the end of his career as a Frigate Captain. He will return to health and England but not to sea possibly spelling the end of the Bridgemont Saga.

An interesting solution that Granger has come up with to benefit all. Now hopefully the Vukture is stupid enough to try to tackle Granger and/or Calvert and its crew captured as pirates. And the pirates divulge that they were acting under orders of Maidstone. Thus providing Granger with all the evidence needed to arrest Maidstone and escort him to England for trial by the King for treason.

The ship Calvert captured is a coastal trader and does not have the fire-power to protect a Galleon. With the San Augustin having been sunk, the only ships capable of protecting a Galleon from pirates. Of course, it is assumed the Viceroy's offer includes both guarantees of the safety of both frigates from the Spanish and resupplying them in Manilla if needed. I hope the Viceroy has the authority to replace the idiot in control of Valdivia, but at last that is not Granger's worry any longer.

Not what I was expecting, but then Mark is a master of surprise and suspence. An intersting proposal that the Viceroy presented, one which I believe would be in the best interest of all for Granger to accept.

Mark, While I personally would prefer for it to be posted ASAP, you have to decide which would affect the continuity of the story more.

In breaking news..... The US Navy and the governments of Chile and Peru have stated they are recieving a number requests for an immeadiate Search and Rescue Mission along the western coast of Suth America to locate His Majesty’s frigate Bacchante and to insure Captain Viscount Granger and crew is save. In addition, the Admiralty in Great Britian has noted a sharp increase in request for information about the missing ship. No official word of the status of these requests has been forthcoming as of this time. We will keep you posted. Elsewhere, medical personnel are worried over the increasing number of cases of insomnia. The affected individuals are waking numerous times during the night and logging on to their computers attempting to locate the latest chapter of Odyssey. Some severe cases have noted where individuals have rigged their beds to mimic the affect wave action would have on late 18th century sailing ships. Others have rigged up atomizers and fans to spray salt water over them. In addition many employers are noting a decrease in productivity as more and more workers seek information about Odyssey. Whether these events are related and when or if a solution can be remains a mystery, this correspondent and thousands across the globe can only wonder if HMS Bacchante is truly safe.

Interesting chapter, I do believe Calvert's soul searching has presented a quandry. In deciding his devoted solely to Granger too many problems result. Either Calvert or Granger will not survive much longer. Of course, I do not believe our hero will die, that means Calvert will. While I look forward to the capture of the Sapnish Galleon, I have to wonder what changes that would occur because of that. First, Mark stated that essentially the sinking of the San Augustin was a blessing because Granger would be hard pressed the crew the battleship. Would not the same senario be presented by the Galleon. While not a fighting ship I am sure staffing the Galleon would require a large number of men and officers. Second, what would Granger do with the Galleon. Send it back to Antigua would mean the Santa Clarita would have to go as escort. Keeping it with him would slow their trip across the Pacific. Third who would command it? Robey does not have the skills (his navigation sucks), Humphries really can not be considered until cleared of any wrong doing in losing his brig. Weston does not have the experience and the rest are all midshipmans (although acting Luetenants).

Mark, Thank you for the new Chapter. It seems like the King of Spain needs to instruct his Chilean Governors on manners or maybe just replace with the Colonel

It should also be noticed that a reader is limited to one review of a given chapter, thus limiting dialog. Whereas the forums are conducive to an open dicussion between all parties.

Granger must be the only Frigate Captain with the destruction of three Ships-of-the-Line to his credit (the one in the west Indies, the one in Italy, and finally the San Augustin). Quite impressive. Now that he rules the seas along the West Coast of South America, does he send Calvert home, keep Calvert with him and raise havic in the Spanish colonies or leave Calvert to patrol the coast while he heads for for East Indies.

In the reviews for Chapter 34, there is a brief discussion of the amount of daylight in various locations. For reference, Valdivia is located at about 40 degrees South of the equator, London about 50 degrees north, and Chicago about 42 degrees North. So the daylight time of Valdivia should be close to what is seen in Chicago (except winter and summer are reverse). Of course Mark is correct that closer to the Anartic the more sunlight hours during this time of the year (early winter).

Granger to the rescue and then you leave us hanging. Boo!! Can Calvert manuver the Santa Clarita enough to provide some assistance to Granger and did Granger effect enough damage to the ship-of-the-line to allow the two frigates a fighting chance? It does look like both Granger and Calvert have realized what they mean to each other.

The problem would be communicating with the natives aboard the Ship of the Line. Unlike when Calvert capture the Santa Clarita, it is doubtful any ship could approach close enough for a verbal exchange. The only hope I see is for the Santa Clarita to close close enough to the battleship in its stern with Granger staying just out of range. If the battleship manuvers to bring the Santa Clarita under fire, Granger steaks in and takes on the bow. Neither frigate can handle multiple broadsides from a battleship and the Spanish tatic of shooting for the spars leave the "ironsides" of the Santa Clarita meaningless

Very interesting chapter that answers some questions but raises many more. First the Santa Clarita appears to be poorly manuverable ship, totally unsuited for the mission of most Frigates, but may be useful in guardng a port type setting. Hopefully the John's Company will have a use for her because she doesn't sound suited to the Navy's needs. Granger learning of the privateers modus of operandi from the whaler ship captains raise questions as why O'higgins did not divulge this earlier and what else is he hiding. In addition while Humphries explanation of how they came to be Valdivia sounds reasonable I believe there is more to that story. Lets hear Fritzwilliam side of the story. Who in England is providing information on Granger to the Spanish. Could Fox be behind this whole scheme aided by the Wilcox clan? Is Bertie still in the East Indies and does he retain his rank in the Army. If so, he will be useful in the upcoming (but distant future) struggle with Maidstone.

Intersting chapter. Sounds like Granger plans on sending Calvert and the Santa Clarita (?) back around the horn to the West Indies and then on to England. Hoping that Calvert can keep the small frigate thus becoming a post-Captain. Sending Calvert to the West Indies and having his Grandfather confirm the temporary assignment will help that cause and allow the return of the American sailors to their homeland easier. The question is which officers will go with Calvert. I suppose the whaler captains will all go as the main group of petty officers, and maybe Weston or Robey as the first officer. I imagine Scropes and another midshipman and at least 1 additional Lt. or maybe just send Fritzwilliam as an acting Lt. while keeping Humphries, Robey on the Bacchante and making Gatling an acting Lt. on it. It shoulld be interesting to see how the crew is divided, but with the Bacchante sailing with 2 extra midshipmen, it should be doable. Of course, some of this depends on how Humpheries wound up down in Chile. Might just be easier to sail both Frigates to the East Indies but that would leave the Americans stranded.

Mark I appreciate your efforts to post the related chapters closer in time to each other. But please make sure your arsenal of chapters do not completely deplete leaving us all go into shock from lack of Granger. I am surprised that Calvert decided to fire all three prvateer vessels instead of capturing them and attempting to sail out to the Bacchante. But he did accomplish a good portion of part of Grangers primary mission in this area of the globe. With Humpheys, Fritzwilliam, the extra midshipmans and the freed British prisoners, there should be no problem in manning the captured frigate with a loyal crew. Now for Granger's destruction of the fort and their "retreat" from Valdivia.

Thank you for the chapters. I am happy to see that Granger and company has survived the challeges of sailing around the Cape. The ship that appears "shadowing" them is somewhat troubling. However, I believe is trying to lure Granger into a trap, believing that the Bachante is a whaler or trading vessel hoping to meet up with some privateers to capture it(if Granger could not ID the type of ship stalking him adequately, it would be questionable if the stalker could ID Granger's ship). While possible, overland travel to Chile from the eastern coast of South America would be near impossible and any ship would have had to tackled Drake's Passage or the Megellan Straits which as we know is difficult at best. Therefore it would be doubtful in my mind that Spanish or French are aware of a British Frigate in their midst.

Mark is a professor not a student. I'm sure he holds a Master degree and probably a Doctorate. Unfortunately, final time can be more taxing on the instructors than on the students.

I imagined the rescued prisoner could be either Manuel Gual or José María España leaders of the anti-spanish rule fraction in Venezula crushed about this time. But why they would be so far south as to be off the shore of Argentina does not make much sense to me. In addition both men were in the late 30's or older at this time and neither had native south american heritage. Maybe a main follower of the movement or the off-spring of one of them is more likely. I'm sure after Dr Jackson has a chance to heal the patient, we will find out, but hopefully he is influential enough to obtain the assistance of natives for Granger in is task to ferret out the French attacks on British and American whalers.

While I can see that the Royal family has concerns. Based on earlier revelations in the Bridgemount Series, the John Company owns the vessels and probably paid the army that invaded the Dutch East Indies. As such for the John Company to treat the "new" colonies as corporate subsidiaries rather than Royal colonies is understanderable even if miguided. If Maidstone is stupid enough to try to hang Granger he, Maidstone, will not last enough to return to England. Granger undoubtably has paperwork essentially naming him as a Royal Embasarry. Couple with that Bertie and Chartley are assumed to still be there, both high ranking Officers of the Army, and in the case of Chartley a peer of the realm. In addition, Granger will capture the Spanish Frigate and/or Ship of the Line and maybe a Spanish Galleon, crew them with a few officers and the English Whalers (who are traded for the Spanish POW's) arriving with a small fleet of warships under his command. Thus not only Maidstone lack the authority to do anything to George but also lack the means.

I have read the reviews and comments about the latest chapter. While none of us are totally surprised by the actions of Mr. Connor, I'm sure Granger is capable of handling this problem. However, before George does anything drastic to Connor, he needs more information. He has to obtain proof that Connor is out to discredit him, proof that Maidstone is part of that conspiracy, and more importantly who is really behind the plot. Remember, not even the King nor others in the Royal family know how Maidstone was named Governor or the real reason behind it. Fortunately George has the weight and blessing of the Crown behind him with Royal orders granting him powers that greatly exceeds that of a normal frigate Captain. If I remember correctly Mark originally intended to name this book Mutiny, but I'm wondering if Treason would not have been a better choice. Of course, Mark is the master of plots and sub-plots and neither I nor anyone else have been able to predict his future curves with any accuracy. As such, we must all wait patiently for Mark to unveal the rest of the story.

Mark you have no need to apologize. While I and I'm sure many others will anxiously await the next installment of Granger and company, we fully understand the rigors and demands of everyday life. You are truly entitled to take whatever time you need. Hopefully, things will get better for you in the near future. Until then concentrate on what is important (You, Your health, Your Family and Love Ones, and Your job). Your Granger fans will understand.