South Pacific, Day 18. In the Realm of Jules Verne

South Pacific, Day 18. In the Realm of Jules Verne. Five in the morning. It’s +19 in the yaranga, +16 outside the yaranga. Still quite warm, although the captain is standing watch in a fleece, while the young sailors are asleep with their blankets pulled right up to their noses. We’re still close-hauled, but the seas have eased a little; for the past two days, life has been bearable. When we’re heeled over, we all sleep in separate berths running along the leeward side. It’s impossible for two people to sleep in the same bed: one of them is always squashing the other. The young sailor has rolled against the starboard wall of the forward cabin. At midnight, Nastya, coming off watch, goes to sleep on the narrow settee in the saloon; the captain goes to bed alone in the aft cabin at seven or eight in the evening, and at ten either I come and squash him until midnight, or I settle down in the saloon, in which case Nastya takes over the captain’s bed at the change of watch. The person on watch gets the settee in the wheelhouse, which isn’t very comfortable to lie on when we’re on port tack. I take over the watch at around five in the morning, and the captain can once again stretch out against the wall in the aft cabin. By nine, the young sailor and the crew hand begin to wake up. ..,, .. ,, ,, .., ..,,.. ..,, .. ,, ,, .., ..,,.. ..,, .. ,, ,, .., ..,,.. ..,, .. ,, ,, .., ..,,.. ..,, .. ,, ,, .., ..,,.. ..,, .. ,, ,, .., .., ,.. new paragraph ..,, .. ,, ,, .., ..,,.. ..,, .. ,, ,, .., ..,,.. ..,, .. ,, ,, .., ..,,.. ..,, .. ,, ,, .., ..,,.. ..,, .. ,, ,, .., ..,,.. ..,, .. ,, ,, .., ..,, .. Our young sailor is a chatterbox, and if you want to read or write something of your own, Lada has to be switched off. The other day we switched her off very successfully with Harry Potter. She’d already read it a year ago, but now declared that, from the lofty vantage point of all the years she had lived, she was bound to see everything differently. The first volume was devoured in two days. The young sailor returns to society only to read us something interesting from the lives of the wizards. Before moving on to the second volume, Laduska took her mother’s advice and switched to something else. Though what I’d meant was for her to go and tumble about, stand on her head, do squats or jump around. Instead, the young sailor closed the Potter saga and read Pushkin’s “The Song of Wise Oleg” aloud to us, marvelling at what sort of book it could be if it was only seven pages long. After Oleg, by way of a break, Nekrasov’s “Grandfather Mazai and the Hares” went down nicely. I was standing watch, scanning the horizon for yet another phantom reef. Nastya sat beside me on the companionway, taking on the job of combing out the young sailor’s dreadlocks while, having finished with Nekrasov, she listened to her sister reciting from memory an excerpt from “The Bronze Horseman,” “The Song of the Stormy Petrel,” “The Little Peasant,” “The Prisoner”.. .. . In short, our crew hand’s humanities education is well above average. As for the exact sciences, I’ll keep quiet for now. ..,, .. ,, ,, .., ..,,.. ..,, .. ,, ,, .., ..,,.. ..,, .. ,, ,, .., ..,,.. ..,, .. ,, ,, .., ..,,.. ..,, .. ,, ,, .., ..,,.. ..,, .. ,, ,, .., .., ,.. ..,, .. ,, ,, .., ..,,.. ..,, .. ,, ,, .., ..,,.. ..,, .. ,, ,, .., ..,,.. ..,, .. ,, ,, .., ..,,.. ..,, .. ,, ,, .., ..,,.. ..,, .. ,, ,, .., ..,, .. The time not taken up by sail handling and domestic chores doesn’t offer much variety. Reading and watching films remain our main entertainment: in the mornings we watch educational films or documentaries about how the world works, great people and discoveries, and in the evenings, feature films. The captain usually skips the evening film and rarely drops in for the morning one while we’re under way. Though watching documentaries with him is very interesting. We often pause the film and launch into discussions inspired by what we’ve seen, about everything from science to politics. Sometimes the arguments get so heated and funny that Nastya bursts out laughing and starts filming us. Breakfast stretches out over two or three hours.. .. I love those hours so much.. .. It’s wonderful that despite nineteen years together, despite having spent the last few years together around the clock, we’re still interested in each other. If we hadn’t set off on the expedition as a whole family, we would never have gone at all. It would have been strange to tear ourselves away from the children for so long just to venture into the most uninhabited part of the world ocean because the time had come to stop being afraid of making our dreams come true. I understand that this is the happiest stage of our lives: we’re always together, and we’ve learned to smooth over conflicts and appreciate one another. Of course, Nastya needs the company of her peers, dancing and other activities. But the expedition won’t last forever, after all.. .. How many teenagers sit at home or feel lonely despite having access to any company they could want. How many teenagers choose the wrong company.. .. Just another two or three years, and this life of ours will end; the time will come for her to leave the nest. For now, we’re preparing her to stand on her own two feet—and our crew hand is learning the lessons of life with flying colours!. .. ..In two days, Nastya will turn seventeen. And she’s already accepting birthday wishes. Write in the comments, friends! What you write to her will be the very celebration everyone looks forward to on their birthday when they’re only seventeen. And all around there are nothing but the old folks and the ocean wilderness.. .. Our crew hand’s greatest wish today is that there won’t be a storm on her birthday. Ah, shipboard life. ..,, .. ,, ,, .., ..,,.. ..,, .. ,, ,, .., ..,,.. ..,, .. ,, ,, .., ..,,.. ..,, .. ,, ,, .., ..,,.. ..,, .. ,, ,, .., ..,,.. ..,, .. ,, ,, .., .., ,.. ..,, .. ,, ,, .., ..,,.. ..,, .. ,, ,, .., ..,,.. ..,, .. ,, ,, .., ..,,.. ..,, .. ,, ,, .., ..,,.. ..,, .. ,, ,, .., ..,,.. ..,, .. ,, ,, .., ..,, .. By evening, the wind had dropped to 15 knots, and we even set the reefed mainsail and genoa. Before that, we’d been sailing under a reefed mizzen and small staysail. The mizzen steadies the boat on course and counteracts our tendency to bear away. Today the wind should shift aft as soon as we pass the phantom Ernest Legouvé Reef. It’s less than 20 miles away. According to the internet, this reef was discovered in 1902 by the unknown captain of the French vessel Ernest Legouvé. The reef is about 100 metres long. Another reef was sighted nearby, and it wasn’t the famous Maria Theresa Reef, because that is still 170 miles away. Ernest Legouvé Reef was immediately entered in the Paris Nautical Directory, and in 1957 the International Hydrographic Bureau gave its coordinates as 35°12′ S, 150°40′ W. In the authoritative Soviet Atlas of Antarctica, its coordinates were listed as 35°25′ S, 150°45′ W. In 1982–83, this part of the Pacific was surveyed specifically to locate reefs. And no Ernest Legouvé Reef was found. It therefore came to be regarded as a phantom island. Despite this, the reef is marked in the 2005 edition of the National Geographic Atlas of the World (USA). And together with Wachusett Bank, which we failed to find the day before yesterday, and the legendary Maria Theresa Reef, it appears on many recent maps of the world. Curiously, the description of Ernest Legouvé Reef almost exactly matches the description of the rock left behind after the volcanic destruction of Jules Verne’s fictional Lincoln Island in The Mysterious Island. Incidentally, the latter had coordinates close to those of Ernest Legouvé Reef: 34°57′ S, 150°30′ W. .. .. POSTSCRIPT. Aaaah!!! Friends, after writing these lines, I put on my polar explorer’s suit and went out to alter course slightly and reef the genoa, because it had piped up to 20 knots again. At the creak of the winches, the captain poked his head out into the cockpit and, looking at the chart, announced that we had just passed within a couple of miles of that very Mysterious Island invented by Jules Verne. “Take a screenshot, quick!” I whispered. If you can make out anything at all in the mega-photo attached to this post, look at the smallest orange circle in the top right-hand corner—that is Jules Verne’s Mysterious Island from the novel of the same name. And the double black circle is us. Yes, Ernest Legouvé Reef is the double blue circle where the route bends, just to the right of our course. It’s 13 miles away. ..,, .. ,, ,, .., ..,,.. ..,, .. ,, ,, .., ..,,.. ..,, .. ,, ,, .., ..,,.. ..,, .. ,, ,, .., ..,,.. ..,, .. ,, ,, .., ..,,.. ..,, .. ,, ,, .., .., ,.. ..,, .. ,, ,, .., ..,,.. ..,, .. ,, ,, .., ..,,.. ..,, .. ,, ,, .., ..,,.. ..,, .. ,, ,, .., ..,,.. ..,, .. ,, ,, .., ..,,.. ..,, .. ,, ,, .., ..,, .. Friends, who still hasn’t read In Search of the Castaways? And watched the film In Search of Captain Grant. It’s so wonderful that so many of you are reading and watching! It truly brings you closer to us in spirit, here in these distant and deserted places. The day after tomorrow, Lady Mary will reach the 37th parallel at the point indicated in the letter found in the stomach of a hammerhead shark in 1864.. .. Is everyone in the know? If not, the hint is at the beginning of the paragraph. And tomorrow there’ll be a report on whether we found Ernest Legouvé Reef at either of its two possible positions: the one given by the International Hydrographic Bureau in 1902 and the one in the authoritative Soviet Atlas of Antarctica. In the meantime, hugs to you from the South Pacific! Lady Mary’s current coordinates: 35 degrees 1 min. south latitude and 150 degrees 36 min. west longitude. Don’t be afraid to make your dreams come true! It gives you, mmm.. .. goosebumps.