We're Not Afraid to Die... if We Can All Be Together

We're Not Afraid to Die... 

if We Can All Be Together

Gordon Cook and Alan East

Notice these expressions in the text. Infer their meaning from the context.

honing our seafaring skills

हमारे समुद्री कौशल को निखारना

ominous silence

अशुभ मौन या अनहोनी का सन्नाटा

Mayday calls

m'aider" से आया है, जिसका अर्थ "मेरी मदद करो

pinpricks in the vast ocean

विशाल समुद्र में सुई की नोक जितनी चुभन"

 या 

"विशाल समुद्र में छोटी सी चीज".

a tousled head

बिखरे हुए बाल

In July 1976, my wife Mary, son Jonathan, 6, daughter Suzanne, 7, and I set sail from Plymouth, England, to duplicate the round-the-world voyage made 200 years earlier by Captain James Cook. For the longest time, Mary and I-a 37-year-old businessman - had dreamt of sailing in the wake of the famous explorer, and for the past 16 years we had spent all our leisure time honing our seafaring skills in British waters.

Our boat Wavewalker, a 23 metre, 30 ton wooden-hulled beauty. had been professionally built, and we had spent months fitting it out and testing it in the roughest weather we could find.

The first leg of our planned three-year, 105.000 kilometre journey passed pleasantly as we sailed down the west coast of Africa to Cape Town. There, before heading east, we took on two crewmen - American Larry Vigil and Swiss Herb Seigler - to help us tackle one of the world's roughest seas, the southern Indian Ocean.

On our second day out of Cape Town, we began to encounter strong gales. For the next few weeks, they blew continuously. Gales did not worry me; but the size of the waves was alarming-up to 15 metres. as high as our main mast.WE'RE NOT AFRAID TO DIE.....

December 25 found us 3,500 kilometres east of Cape Town.

Despite atrocious weather, we had a wonderful holiday complete with a Christmas tree. New Year's Day saw no improvement in the weather. but we reasoned that it had to change soon. And it did change - for the worse.

At dawn on January 2, the waves were gigantic. We were sailing with only a small storm jib and were still making eight knots. As the ship rose to the top of each wave we could see endless enormous seas rolling towards us, and the screaming of the wind and spray was painful to the ears. To slow the boat down, we dropped the storm jib and lashed a heavy mooring rope in a loop across the stern. Then we double-lashed everything, went through our life-raft drill, attached lifelines, donned oilskins and life jackets and waited.

The first indication of impending disaster came at about 6 p.m., with an ominous silence. The wind dropped, and the sky immediately grew dark. Then came a growing roar, and an enormous cloud towered aft of the ship. With horror, I realised that it was not a cloud, but a wave like no other I had ever seen. It appeared perfectly vertical and almost twice the height of the other waves, with a frightful breaking crest.

The roar increased to a thunder as the stern moved up the face of the wave, and for a moment I thought we might ride over it. But then a tremendous explosion shook the deck. A torrent of green and white water broke over the ship, my head smashed into the wheel and I was aware of flying overboard and sinking below the waves. I accepted my approaching death, and as I was losing consciousness, I felt quite peaceful.

Unexpectedly, my head popped out of the water. A few metres away, Wavewalker was near capsizing, her masts almost horizontal. Then a wave hurled her upright, my lifeline jerked taut, I grabbed the guard rails and sailed through the air into Wavewalker's main boom. Subsequent waves tossed me around the deck like a rag doll. My left ribs cracked; my mouth filled with blood and broken teeth. Somehow, I found the wheel, lined up the stern for the next wave and hung on.

Water, Water, Everywhere. I could feel that the ship had water below, but I dared not abandon the wheel to investigate. Suddenly, the front hatch was thrown open and Mary appeared. "We're sinking!" she screamed. "The decks are smashed; we're full of water."

"Take the wheel", I shouted as I scrambled for the hatch.14

Larry and Herb were pumping like madmen. Broken timbers hung at crazy angles, the whole starboard side bulged inwards: clothes, crockery, charts, tins and toys sloshed about in deep water.

I half-swam, half-crawled into the children's cabin. "Are you all right?" I asked. "Yes," they answered from an upper bunk. "But my head hurts a bit," said Sue, pointing to a big bump above her eyes. [ had no time to worry about bumped heads.

After finding a hammer, screws and canvas, I struggled back on deck. With the starboard side bashed open, we were taking water with each wave that broke over us. If I couldn't make some repairs, we would surely sink.

Somehow I managed to stretch canvas and secure waterproof hatch covers across the gaping holes. Some water continued to stream below, but most of it was now being deflected over the side.

More problems arose when our hand pumps started to block up with the debris floating around the cabins and the electric pump short-circuited. The water level rose threateningly. Back on deck I found that our two spare hand pumps had been wrenched overboard - along with the forestay sail, the jib, the dinghies and the main anchor.

Then I remembered we had another electric pump under the chatroom floor. I connected it to an out-pipe, and was thankful to find that it worked.

The night dragged on with an endless, bitterly cold routine of pumping, steering and working the radio. We were getting no replies to our Mayday calls which was not surprising in this remote corner of the world.

Sue's head had swollen alarmingly; she had two enormous black eyes, and now she showed us a deep cut on her arm. When I asked why she hadn't made more of her injuries before this, she replied, "I didn't want to worry you when you were trying to save us all."

By morning on January 3, the pumps had the water level sufficiently under control for us to take two hours' rest in rotation. But we still had a tremendous leak somewhere below the waterline and, on checking. I found that nearly all the boat's main rib frames were smashed down to the keel. In fact, there was nothing holding up a whole section of the starboard hull except a few cupboard partitions.

We had survived for 15 hours since the wave hit, but Wavewalker wouldn't hold together long enough for us to reach Australia. 

I checked our charts and calculated that there were two small islands a few hundred kilometres to the east. One of them. Ile Amsterdam, was a French scientific base. Our only hope was to reach these pinpricks in the vast ocean. But unless the wind and seas abated so we could hoist sail, our chances would be slim indeed. The great wave had put our auxilliary engine out of action.

On January 4, after 36 hours of continuous pumping, we reached the last few centimetres of water. Now, we had only to keep pace with the water still coming in. We could not set any sail on the main mast. Pressure on the rigging would simply pull the damaged section of the hull apart, so we hoisted the storm jib and headed for where I thought the two islands were. Mary found some corned beef and cracker biscuits, and we ate our first meal in almost two days.

But our respite was short-lived. At 4 p.m. black clouds began building up behind us; within the hour the wind was back to 40 knots and the seas were getting higher. The weather continued to deteriorate throughout the night, and by dawn on January 5, our situation was again desperate.

When I went in to comfort the children, Jon asked, "Daddy, are we going to die?" I tried to assure him that we could make it. "But, Daddy." he went on, "we aren't afraid of dying if we can all be together you and Mummy, Sue and I."

I could find no words with which to respond, but I left the children's cabin determined to fight the sea with everything I had. To protect the weakened starboard side, I decided to heave-to with the undamaged port hull facing the oncoming waves, using an improvised sea anchor of heavy nylon rope and two 22 litre plastic barrels of paraffin.

That evening. Mary and I sat together holding hands, as the motion of the ship brought more and more water in through the broken planks. We both felt the end was very near.

But Wavewalker rode out the storm and by the morning of January 6. with the wind easing, I tried to get a reading on the sextant. Back in the chartroom, I worked on wind speeds, changes of course, drift and current in an effort to calculate our position. The best I could determine was that we were somewhere in 150.000 kilometres of ocean looking for a 65 kilometre-wide island.

While I was thinking. Sue, moving painfully, joined me. The left side of her head was now very swollen and her blackened eyes narrowed to slits. She gave me a card she had made.

On the front she had drawn caricatures of Mary and me with the Did they make you laughed a lot as well." Inside was a message: "Oh, how I love you both. So this card is to say thank you and let's hope for the best." Somehow we had to make it.

I checked and rechecked my calculations. We had lost our main compass and I was using a spare which had not been corrected for magnetic variation. I made an allowance for this and another estimate of the influence of the westerly currents which flow through this part of the Indian Ocean.

About 2 p.m., I went on deck and asked Larry to steer a course of 185 degrees. If we were lucky, I told him with a conviction I did not feel, he could expect to see the island at about 5 p.m.

Then with a heavy heart, I went below, climbed on my bunk and amazingly, dozed off. When I woke it was 6 p.m., and growing dark. I knew we must have missed the island, and with the sail we had left, we couldn't hope to beat back into the westerly winds.

At that moment, a tousled head appeared by my bunk. "Can I have a hug?" Jonathan asked. Sue was right behind him.

"Why am I getting a hug now?" I asked.

"Because you are the best daddy in the whole world - and the best captain, my son replied.

"Not today, Jon, I'm afraid."

"Why, you must be," said Sue in a matter-of-fact voice. "You found the island."

"What!" I shouted.

"It's out there in front of us," they chorused, "as big as a battleship."

I rushed on deck and gazed with relief at the stark outline of lle Amsterdam. It was only a bleak piece of volcanic rock, with little vegetation the most beautiful island in the world!

We anchored offshore for the night, and the next morning all 28 inhabitants of the island cheered as they helped us ashore.

With land under my feet again, my thoughts were full of Larry and Herbie, cheerful and optimistic under the direst stress, and of Mary, who stayed at the wheel for all those crucial hours. Most of all. I thought of a seven-year-old girl, who did not want us to worry about a head injury (which subsequently took six minor operations to remove a recurring blood clot between skin and skull), and of a six-year-old boy who was not afraid to die.

Word meaning

bump-swelling. गुमड़ा: hammer-a tool for driving nails, हथौड़ी; screws a metal fastener. पेच; canvas-water proof material, thick cloth of hemp or flax, किरमिच 

bashed open-struck open forcibly, आघात के कारण खुल गया; stretch-spread out; hatch covers-the lids to cover the openings in the deck; gaping-open; deflected-turned to another direction, रास्ता मोड़ दिया; debris-scattered broken things, मलबा, कचरा threateningly-In an alarming manner. खतरनाक तरीके से; wrenched-pulled off, twisted. खराब हो गया था

dinghies-small boats on a ship; anchor-piece of heavy metal, लंगर; chartroom-where maps used for navigation are kept, dragged on-passed with difficulty; steering the mechanism or wheel to control the direction, Mayday calls radio signals used by ships in distress calling for help.

 Remote-far off; swollen सूज गया था alarmingly-dangerously; enormous big; sufficiently enough, adequate; In rotation-turn by turn. बारी बारी से; tremendous big, अधिक, leak-opening, छेद।

Rib-one of the ships curved timbers, घुमावदार लकड़ी; smashed to the keel-completely broken; starboard hull-the lower part of the right side of the ship; calculated-estimated, अनुमान गलाय,

pinpricks-very small dots or islands; abated-cooled down, grew less severe; hoist-flutter, फहराना slim-very little, thin, कम; auxiliary-additional, अतिरिक्त; main mast-prime pole, प्रमुख मस्तूल।

pressure-pulls; rigging-ropes: pull apart-separate, अलग कर देना; corned-saved from damage: respite-relief, interval of rest, विराम deteriorate-grow worse, worsen, बदतर होना; dawn-daybreak; desperate-hopeless; respond-reply; heave-to-lift, raise with great effort, बलपूर्वक खींचन; improvise-to use whatever is available, काम चलाऊ,

anchor-a heavy metal object which helps to keep a ship in one place लंगर; barrels-drums; paraffin-waxमोम; planks-long flat pieces of sawn timber, तख्ते; rode out-survived. बच निकल easing-cooling down.

A sextant-an instrument for measuring, कोण की दूरी मापने का यंत्र, drift-slow currents. मंद बहाव; slits-thin openings, झिरी caricature-funny representation of a person, व्यंग चित्र; compass-instrument with magnetised needle, कुतुबनुमा, variation-changes indicating direction;

conviction-firm belief, दृढविश्वास; dozed off slept, tousled rough, disorderly, बिखरे बाल; hug-embrace, आलिंगन; chorused-spoke jointly, एक साथ बोले stark-bare, stiff naked, bleak-cheerless; little vegetation-no greenery. Barren; anchored-dropped the heavy iron piece, जहाज का लंगर गिराये रख ; off-shore-near the shore. तट के निकट; inhabitants-residents, निवास

optimistic-hopeful; direst-extreme, most horrible; stress-pressure, strain; crucial-critical, subsequently-coming after, बाद में; recurring-coming up again and again; clot-half solid lump, रक्त का थक्का ।

Encounter-meet, come across, face, सामना करना; gale-violent winds, आँधी तूफान; alarming-dangerous. Terrifying, व्याकुल कर देने वाली, main mast-central long pole, मस्तूल, despite-in spite of, के बावजूद, atrocious-rough, violent, क्रूर; reasoned-told ourselves; gigantic-huge, high, विशाल ऊँची, jib-a triangular staysail. तिकोना पाल; knots-a nautical mile; enormous-huge, विशाल;

screaming-making sharp noise. चौख, पुकार, lashed-tied, fastened together; mooring-rope-a rope used for securing a boat on the coast, घाट पर बाँधने वाला रस्म; loop-noose, फंद 1; stern-back part of the ship. जहाज का पिछला भाग, life raft-a fleet made of logs, नदी पार करने के लिए तख्तों से बनाया गया बेड़ा

spray-flying of small drops of water, फुहार; drill-exercise, practical training. अभ्यास; attached-joined, जोड़ दिय 1; donned put on, पहन लिया indication-sign, संकेत; impending-drawing near, आसन्न; disaster-ruin, mishap. तबाही, विपद, dropped-stopped blowing; towered-mounted. ऊपर आ गय I aft-back, पीठ;

horror-fear, भय; vertical-standing upright, लंब की भाँति; frightful-deadly. Dreadful. डरावनी crest-top; thunder-loud roar. गर्जन; tremendous-fearful; explosion-burst, विस्फोट; deck-the platform of a ship; torrent a strong fast stream; smashed-hit, struck, टकराया; popped-rose, ऊthe पर उठ गया:

capsizing-overturning. उलट रहा थ 1; horizontal-level. समानांतर; hurled threw with force. वेग से उछाल दिय 1; jerked-moved; taut-tight; lifeline-a rope thrown to secure someone from drowning; Wavewalker-the name given to the boat; grabbed-caught firmly; guardrails the horizontal pieces of iron or wood for security. Raithe ling:

a boom-long pole. पाल दण्ड; subsequent-that came thereafter, बाद में आने वाली, tossed-threw, फैक 1; rag doll-a doll made of a torn clothes, a toy, गुड़िया, ribs-chest bones, पसलियों, cracked-broke, चटक गई; hung on-trapped, लटका रहा; abandon-leave. छोड़न 1; investigate-find out, पता लगाना।

Screamed-cried; decks platform, roof; smashed-broken; scrambled tried to catch, झपट कर पकड़ 1; hatch-a small opening in a floor.; timbers-wood used for building purpose, इमारती लकड़ ; crazy-odd. बेढंगे तरीके स; starboard-right-hand side of a ship, जलपोत का दाहिना भाग; bulged-swollen, फूल गया sloshed-moved around water, पानी चल रहे थ; bunk-sleeping berth. शयन स्थान; a bit a little

bump-swelling. गुमड़ा; hammer-a tool for driving nails, हथौड़ी, screws-a metal fastener. पेच; canvas-water proof material thick cloth of hemn or flax किरमिच bashed open-struck onen

bump-swelling. गुमड़ा: hammer-a tool for driving nails, हथौड़ी; screws a metal fastener. पेच; canvas-water proof material, thick cloth of hemp or flax, किरमिच bashed open-struck open forcibly, आघात के कारण खुल गया; stretch-spread out; hatch covers-the lids to cover the openings in the deck; gaping-open; deflected-turned to another direction, रास्ता मोड़ दिया; debris-scattered broken things, मलबा, कचरा threateningly-In an alarming manner. खतरनाक तरीके से; wrenched-pulled off, twisted. खराब हो गया था

dinghies-small boats on a ship; anchor-piece of heavy metal, लंगर; chartroom-where maps used for navigation are kept, dragged on-passed with difficulty; steering the mechanism or wheel to control the direction, Mayday calls radio signals used by ships in distress calling for help. Remote-far off; swollen सूज गया था alarmingly-dangerously; enormous big; sufficiently enough, adequate; In rotation-turn by turn. बारी बारी से; tremendous big, अधिक, leak-opening, छेद।

Rib-one of the ships curved timbers, घुमावदार लकड़ी; smashed to the keel-completely broken; starboard hull-the lower part of the right side of the ship; calculated-estimated, अनुमान गलाय,

pinpricks-very small dots or islands; abated-cooled down, grew less severe; hoist-flutter, फहराना slim-very little, thin, कम; auxiliary-additional, अतिरिक्त; main mast-prime pole, प्रमुख मस्तूल।

pressure-pulls; rigging-ropes: pull apart-separate, अलग कर देना; corned-saved from damage: respite-relief, interval of rest, विराम deteriorate-grow worse, worsen, बदतर होना; dawn-daybreak; desperate-hopeless; respond-reply; heave-to-lift, raise with great effort, बलपूर्वक खींचन; improvise-to use whatever is available, काम चलाऊ,

anchor-a heavy metal object which helps to keep a ship in one place लंगर; barrels-drums; paraffin-waxमोम; planks-long flat pieces of sawn timber, तख्ते; rode out-survived. बच निकल easing-cooling down.

A sextant-an instrument for measuring, कोण की दूरी मापने का यंत्र, drift-slow currents. मंद बहाव; slits-thin openings, झिरी caricature-funny representation of a person, व्यंग चित्र; compass-instrument with magnetised needle, कुतुबनुमा, variation-changes indicating direction;

conviction-firm belief, दृढविश्वास; dozed off slept, tousled rough, disorderly, बिखरे बाल; hug-embrace, आलिंगन; chorused-spoke jointly, एक साथ बोले stark-bare, stiff naked, bleak-cheerless; little vegetation-no greenery. Barren; anchored-dropped the heavy iron piece, जहाज का लंगर गिराये रख ; off-shore-near the shore. तट के निकट; inhabitants-residents, निवास

optimistic-hopeful; direst-extreme, most horrible; stress-pressure, strain; crucial-critical, subsequently-coming after, बाद में; recurring-coming up again and again; clot-half solid lump, रक्त का थक्का ।

Encounter-meet, come across, face, सामना करना; gale-violent winds, आँधी तूफान; alarming-dangerous. Terrifying, व्याकुल कर देने वाली, main mast-central long pole, मस्तूल, despite-in spite of, के बावजूद, atrocious-rough, violent, क्रूर; reasoned-told ourselves; gigantic-huge, high, विशाल ऊँची, jib-a triangular staysail. तिकोना पाल; knots-a nautical mile; enormous-huge, विशाल;

screaming-making sharp noise. चौख, पुकार, lashed-tied, fastened together; mooring-rope-a rope used for securing a boat on the coast, घाट पर बाँधने वाला रस्म; loop-noose, फंद 1; stern-back part of the ship. जहाज का पिछला भाग, life raft-a fleet made of logs, नदी पार करने के लिए तख्तों से बनाया गया बेड़ा

spray-flying of small drops of water, फुहार; drill-exercise, practical training. अभ्यास; attached-joined, जोड़ दिय 1; donned put on, पहन लिया indication-sign, संकेत; impending-drawing near, आसन्न; disaster-ruin, mishap. तबाही, विपद, dropped-stopped blowing; towered-mounted. ऊपर आ गय I aft-back, पीठ;

horror-fear, भय; vertical-standing upright, लंब की भाँति; frightful-deadly. Dreadful. डरावनी crest-top; thunder-loud roar. गर्जन; tremendous-fearful; explosion-burst, विस्फोट; deck-the platform of a ship; torrent a strong fast stream; smashed-hit, struck, टकराया; popped-rose, ऊthe पर उठ गया:

capsizing-overturning. उलट रहा थ 1; horizontal-level. समानांतर; hurled threw with force. वेग से उछाल दिय 1; jerked-moved; taut-tight; lifeline-a rope thrown to secure someone from drowning; Wavewalker-the name given to the boat; grabbed-caught firmly; guardrails the horizontal pieces of iron or wood for security. Raithe ling:

a boom-long pole. पाल दण्ड; subsequent-that came thereafter, बाद में आने वाली, tossed-threw, फैक 1; rag doll-a doll made of a torn clothes, a toy, गुड़िया, ribs-chest bones, पसलियों, cracked-broke, चटक गई; hung on-trapped, लटका रहा; abandon-leave. छोड़न 1; investigate-find out, पता लगाना।

Screamed-cried; decks platform, roof; smashed-broken; scrambled tried to catch, झपट कर पकड़ 1; hatch-a small opening in a floor.; timbers-wood used for building purpose, इमारती लकड़ ; crazy-odd. बेढंगे तरीके स; starboard-right-hand side of a ship, जलपोत का दाहिना भाग; bulged-swollen, फूल गया sloshed-moved around water, पानी चल रहे थ; bunk-sleeping berth. शयन स्थान; a bit a little

bump-swelling. गुमड़ा; hammer-a tool for driving nails, हथौड़ी, screws-a metal fastener. पेच; canvas-water proof material thick cloth of hemn or flax किरमिच bashed open-struck onen