How the Sailor Agreed to Spend Two Months at Sea

How the sailor agreed to spend two months at sea. When, on 22 November, obeying the wind and the madness of explorers, we turned south, I wondered: Hmm, what about provisions? We’ve got enough grains, noodles and tinned food aboard for four to six months, so that’s all fine. But we hadn’t stocked up all that much on fresh fruit and vegetables. “What, are we sailing off to uninhabited places or something?” the captain had tempered our shopping enthusiasm at the supermarket on Raiatea. True enough, we thought, and set off for Samoa via Suwarrow Atoll—700 plus 500 miles northwest, a week plus five days underway. We had enough fresh produce for ten days, and we’d surely get hold of bananas and coconuts on Suwarrow. .. .. A day passed, and Lady Mary turned through 100 degrees. A course south along the 153rd meridian to the 37th parallel. The expedition’s mission: to find, or confirm the phantom nature of, the reefs of the South Pacific. ..,, .. ,, ,, .., ..,,.. ..,, .. ,, ,, .., ..,,.. ..,, .. ,, ,, .., ..,,.. ..,, .. ,, ,, .., ..,,.. ..,, .. ,, ,, .., ..,,.. ..,, .. ,, ,, .., .., ,.. ..,, .. ,, ,, .., ..,,.. ..,, .. ,, ,, .., ..,,.. ..,, .. ,, ,, .., ..,,.. ..,, .. ,, ,, .., ..,,.. ..,, .. ,, ,, .., ..,,.. ..,, .. ,, ,, .., ..,, .. Diary entry for 22 November: By morning, the wind is still setting us south of the course plotted for Samoa. While Nastya is asleep, Andrei and I carry on being ridiculous: “Andryukh, what’s our longitude?” “153.” “Hang on, I’ll get the pilot book.” And I bring The Children of Captain Grant from Nastya’s shelf. “Andryukha! According to Jules Verne, Maria Theresa Reef is at longitude 153 (!)—1,200 miles due south. Let’s turn, eh?” Andrei pulls out the paper Admiralty chart: “Listen, according to this it’s somewhere around longitude 137. Same on the electronic chart.” And so the first step of a scientific research expedition, working title Off Our Rockers, took shape: “Andryukh, let’s head down the 153rd meridian to the 37th parallel, then follow it for about a thousand miles to the 136th meridian and personally check whether Maria Theresa Reef exists. By the way, guys, the English-language Wikipedia has more about it and the searches for it than the Russian-language one.” “Yes, and on the way we’ll call at the phantom reefs Jupiter, Wachusett and Ernest Legouvé.” .. .. We discuss how we’ll head east afterwards, when we come back.. .. Not seriously, we’re just laughing: What if we did!.. Just imagine!.. Joking, sort of. Meanwhile, somehow, the course has already turned south all by itself. Laduska will be up for any madcap scheme as long as everyone agrees. All that remains is to motivate Nastya; she can’t stand bobbing about at sea longer than strictly necessary. ..,, .. ,, ,, .., ..,,.. ..,, .. ,, ,, .., ..,,.. ..,, .. ,, ,, .., ..,,.. ..,, .. ,, ,, .., ..,,.. ..,, .. ,, ,, .., ..,,.. ..,, .. ,, ,, .., .., ,.. ..,, .. ,, ,, .., ..,,.. ..,, .. ,, ,, .., ..,,.. ..,, .. ,, ,, .., ..,,.. ..,, .. ,, ,, .., ..,,.. ..,, .. ,, ,, .., ..,,.. ..,, .. ,, ,, .., ..,, .. And here she is. Instead of good morning, we greet her with: “Darling, if we had a family coat of arms, its motto would be: Stupidity and Courage!” Nastya’s eyes go roound.. A tear trembles somewhere at the edge of them.. .. Strangely enough, by lunchtime we had managed to convince our sailor not to cry because her birthday and New Year would be spent on a long, cold passage: “What’s so great about celebrating your birthday in a hot, unair-conditioned restaurant in Samoa? What, have you never been to a restaurant before? We’ll reach Patagonia in two months and celebrate there!” And the innocent child gradually got used to the idea. In doing so, we cut off our own route to New Zealand during cyclone season, because to get the visas we have already applied for, we need to confirm that we are who we say we are. But in Samoa. .. .. Young sailor Lada took all this in and wrote on the white school board in felt-tip pen: The parents have gone mad. ..,, .. ,, ,, .., ..,,.. ..,, .. ,, ,, .., ..,,.. ..,, .. ,, ,, .., ..,,.. ..,, .. ,, ,, .., ..,,.. ..,, .. ,, ,, .., ..,,.. ..,, .. ,, ,, .., .., ,.. ..,, .. ,, ,, .., ..,,.. ..,, .. ,, ,, .., ..,,.. ..,, .. ,, ,, .., ..,,.. ..,, .. ,, ,, .., ..,,.. ..,, .. ,, ,, .., ..,,.. ..,, .. ,, ,, .., ..,, .. So, one of the questions that puzzled Nastya and me after the decision to sail south and then southeast instead of west was: how were we going to make the fresh fruit and vegetables last when we were already rationing them strictly? As everyone knows, varied food is the key to a successful expedition. While we spent a week getting used to the diet, Andrei announced that almost directly on our course lay the island of Rimatara, a circle 2 km in diameter, in the Austral Islands archipelago. After that there would be NO THING at all, for who knows how long. The island still belongs to French Polynesia, and we don’t have visas, but maritime law allows for an emergency stop in case of distress or to replenish water and provisions, without going ashore for a stroll. This was the first time in our sailing experience that we would put in somewhere specifically to restock and then leave immediately. ..,, .. ,, ,, .., ..,,.. ..,, .. ,, ,, .., ..,,.. ..,, .. ,, ,, .., ..,,.. ..,, .. ,, ,, .., ..,,.. ..,, .. ,, ,, .., ..,,.. ..,, .. ,, ,, .., .., ,.. ..,, .. ,, ,, .., ..,,.. ..,, .. ,, ,, .., ..,,.. ..,, .. ,, ,, .., ..,,.. ..,, .. ,, ,, .., ..,,.. ..,, .. ,, ,, .., ..,,.. ..,, .. ,, ,, .., ..,, .. Read tomorrow to find out what came of it all and how much it cost. This has already turned out rather long; we won’t torture you. Satellite chronicles aren’t easy to read without punctuation, after all. Our current coordinates: 24.55 S, 151.48 W. Bobbing around in rain and calms.