Why We Are Here. The Phantom Island of Ernest Legouvé. The adult-and-child crew of the sailing yacht Lady Mary continues its scientific research expedition to the phantom reefs of the South Pacific.
The expedition plan had been in the works for a long time, but our readiness to turn sharply south, into the cold latitudes, emerged on 22 November of this year. Lady Mary was sailing from the Society Islands to Samoa, from where she was due to head to New Zealand to wait out the tropical cyclone season. The Southern Hemisphere storm season lasts from November to April. We were only just going to make it, and risked having to put Plan B into effect—spending several months not in New Zealand, but on a safe equatorial atoll. The prospect of six months of round-the-clock heat and inactivity set our teeth on edge.
That was when Plan C resurfaced: to do something no Russian-speaking family before us, with or without children, under sail or aboard a motor ship, had ever done. Within a couple of hours, the straightforward Plans A and B had been displaced by the intention to undertake a research expedition. And at the 153rd meridian west, we set a southerly course.
The aim of the expedition: to sail down the meridian to the 37th parallel south and see for ourselves that Maria Theresa Island, made famous by Jules Verne in his book In Search of the Castaways, does not exist. This reef is still marked on many charts, including British and New Zealand nautical charts from the 2010s.
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Based on information available in the late 19th century, Jules Verne placed Maria Theresa at 153 degrees west longitude and 37 degrees 11 minutes south latitude. Nautical charts send anyone searching for this reef almost a thousand miles farther east. In the same desolate area of the Pacific there are several more phantom islands, none confirmed by searches conducted in 1957 and 1983.
We set ourselves the following task: call at the phantom reefs of Wachusett, the unnamed 1957 reef, Jupiter Reef (the weather prevented us), and Ernest Legouvé Reef at two sets of presumed coordinates. Then proceed to Maria Theresa Reef on the 37th parallel. From the position marked on late-19th-century charts, sail to the position shown on Soviet charts, and then continue along the 37th parallel for another 800 miles to the 136th meridian, where modern nautical charts place Maria Theresa.
After that, the expedition leg will be complete, and Lady Mary will set a course for Patagonia, in southern Chile. There will still be 3,200 miles of ocean to go. Our route will take us through the Roaring Forties and Furious Fifties, and through Point Nemo at 48°52′6″ south latitude and 123°23′6″ west longitude. The latter is notable for two things: 1. it is the point farthest from any land; 2. another nod to Jules Verne—the point was named after Captain Nemo from Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Seas.
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In the latitudes of the forties and fifties, the crew hopes to cross paths with Fyodor Konyukhov, who recently set out from New Zealand across the Pacific in a rowing boat. It would also be great to come within radio range of Igor Zaretsky, a competitor in the Race of the Century—the Golden Globe non-stop solo round-the-world sailing race. Half the entrants have already retired. Igor is currently off the coast of Australia.
So, in total, there will soon be three boats flying the Russian flag in the South Pacific between Antarctica and Polynesia: us aboard Lady Mary, Konyukhov aboard AKROS, and Zaretsky aboard Esmeralda.
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Ernest Legouvé Reef. We wrote about where it came from in our previous report.
A couple of miles before the presumed phantom reef, we send a lookout up on deck.
“Nastya, take your pick: are you standing watch, or are you going to bring tea and jam to whoever is on watch?”
Nastya chose to bring the tea, and with a clear conscience I settled down on the cockpit bench.
Head swivelling through 360 degrees; for a better view, climb the mast. So what if the swell is three metres? My responsibility to humanity drives me up beneath the first spreaders. A 360-degree panorama, screenshots, photos, peering into the waves through my glasses, through binoculars....
We all take turns scanning the horizon.
....
Nothing.
And Lady Mary bounds merrily towards the second position given for the very same Ernest Legouvé Reef.
Here is something I wonder about: how did mariners establish coordinates in these waters? You do not simply plonk an island on a chart in the middle of the ocean for no reason. What did they see, and where did it go?
Meanwhile, the ship’s bell—in the person of the captain—summoned us back to reef watch: Lady Mary was approaching the position at 35°25′ S, 150°45′ W, marked in the authoritative Soviet Atlas of Antarctica.
We repeat the procedure: climbing the mast, taking 360-degree panoramas and screenshots of the display.
There is no Ernest Legouvé Reef at the stated coordinates.
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We set a course for Maria Theresa Reef, the main objective of our expedition. Exciting....
And now a storm is beginning as well.
To be continued!