We’re Being Swept Past Land “What a nuisance,” as Miss Bock used to say. And what pains me most is wasting two days heading north, then another two days heading south to get back on track. Losing days and miles, and making useless tacks in the wrong direction, demoralises me more than anything. I’m prepared to endure things for a long time, even suffer a little, when I know that the suffering is getting us closer to our goal. But suffering for no reason? No, thank you. Apparently, that’s an area where I need to grow :). Lady Mary has crawled up to two and a half degrees north of the equator, in the hope that the powerful river of the Equatorial Current might weaken at least a little. The current is sweeping us east at two knots, nullifying our attempts to head north-east close-hauled. The equatorial ocean river is winning 5–0. We have zero chance of reaching Kiritimati Island (also known as Christmas Island) under sail. But we really ought to make landfall. A few days ago, Andrey wrote to an agent on the atoll, and at last we’ve received a reply saying that we may be allowed to anchor, make repairs, and replenish our water and fruit supplies, as ours qualifies as an emergency case. “Andryusha, what if we motor these 50 miles?” After some thought, the captain agrees to start the engine, despite our suspicions about the leaking transmission. But for the first half-hour our speed is 1.8 knots. So, basically, a full day under power, and even then there’s no guarantee we’ll make it. Just as we were considering giving up on Christmas Island and trying to break through to Tahiti—which isn’t very realistic because of the same current—our speed increased to three miles per hour, and we resigned ourselves to keeping the windows shut and pounding into the waves and wind in exchange for a stop at the island. If you were watching our track on the Route tab yesterday, you were probably wondering where on earth we were headed ). Not Hawaii, no. We were simply being swept past land.
The Home Straight!
“And why am I so head over heels in love with you lot?” the first mate keeps saying, despite the heat, the galley flooded through the vent, and all the delights of heading straight into the waves and wind. And then it dawned on me: that’s it, we’re on the home straight! For the first time in more than two months, we really are heading for Tahiti. Directly, without any strange zigzags north or off in other directions. True, we’re moving at a snail’s pace with the racket of a little frog in a box, but that’s another matter. “Never mind, it’ll soon be over. We’ll turn off the engine and switch on the wind-in-your-face,” the captain consoles me. “So what? At least we’re moving in the right direction.” And it’s 1,276 miles to Tahiti in a straight line. How many zigzags will we have to make before we finally get there? For two weeks after Suwarrow, the treacherous trade wind blew from the north-east while we were trying to sail north-east, and now it has swung round to the south-east—and, judging by the forecast, it’s set to stay there for quite a while. How does that even happen? And why couldn’t it be the other way round? We’ll heave to for the night, because at our tortoise speed we won’t make it before dark. Overnight we’ll be swept east again, and in the morning we’ll fire up the engine once more and finally enter the world of quarantine, masks, and closed borders. We hope they’ll let us climb the mast in calm water and allow us to take on water and maybe some tomatoes. We’re rather fed up with coconuts and apples by now ).
The Problems of the World’s Most Scattered Country, Spread Across Every Hemisphere
Kiritimati Atoll, the largest atoll in the world, is less than 20 miles away, but we won’t see land before dark because atolls are very low-lying. Because of global warming, the President of Kiribati has expressed grave concern that his country may disappear beneath the water, and is calling on other countries to reduce the CO₂ emissions that create the greenhouse effect. Just imagine: an entire country could be washed away if you and I and everyone else fail to reduce our ecological footprint on the planet. To find out how to start reducing yours without making life difficult, visit the WWF Russia website or simply Google it. Because if not us, then who? By the way, the captain is editing a new video about Suwarrow Atoll, with aerial, land, and underwater footage. Hooray! Friends, have you watched the new videos on our channel? Three have already come out while we’ve been away. Which one did you like best? Share them with your friends—we’d be delighted. Warm greetings to you from two degrees north latitude (not for long). We’re continuing to battle wind and current on our way to Christmas Island. The wind is strengthening. Sent via satellite link. The photographs will appear once we reach the internet. Thank you for following Lady Mary’s adventures, worrying about us, and sending warm messages through the website! We can’t reply to everyone personally, alas, but we’re sending each and every one of you a hug. Our heartfelt thanks to Vladimir K., Ilya E., Vera K., and everyone supporting the crew’s morale through YooMoney and PayPal . Welcome to the team! To see where we are now, visit our website, travely-family.com, and open the Route tab. Lady Mary’s route is plotted there from the RockSTAR Iridium 360 tracker supplied by MVS Telecom.