Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
back in the eighteen sixties. I hoped to see the different species of giant tortoises that, while
living on neighboring islands to each other, had evolved differently through the ages due to
different ecology. (I have found the whole subject of evolution quite fascinating throughout
my life.)
I had been dragging a little, wire-framed net made from some scrap mosquito netting, and
hauled it in after several days to study the contents. There were the usual bits of seaweed
and algae but quite fascinating were the little, clear, plastic-like objects that were actu-
ally little creatures, or krill. I had read that the contents of seawater, especially here in the
warm Pacific, were very high in protein. Whales, such as the baleen, humpback, and blue
whale, and the largest fish of all, the whale shark, survive on sifting this plankton and krill
through their mouths. Phytoplankton has been around for some three billion years, convert-
ing minerals and seawater into protein, vitamins, carbohydrates, and amino acids. Indeed,
most scientists are in agreement that phytoplankton is the basis of life on planet earth. It
also produces about ninety percent of all our oxygen. Unfortunately, much of it is poison
and totally inedible for humans. Too bad, it would have been great to add to our soups and
stews. (In fact, there is a whole industry now of blue green algae as a health supplement.)
We had started seeing phosphorescence in our wake, and the tell-tale signs were soon con-
firmed: we were losing our precious wind! We were down to a dismal ten knots and less at
times.
The log for the twentieth of March reads,
Winds down to ten knots, noon fix confirms strong
counter equatorial current.
This was the beginning of some of the laziest, lie-around days of the entire cruise. We al-
ways seemed to have just enough wind to keep Déjà vu moving along. Our progress was
dismal however, twenty to thirty knots a day.
Gavin and I had to take turns at the helm, as the self-steering system wouldn't work in these
light airs. Fishing at this slow pace was out of the question as the trolling lure hung limply
below in the cool depths of the ocean attracting no attention whatsoever. We had attempted
to cut down on our smoking earlier in the cruise but knew that it was pointless now as we
had to have something to occupy our idle hands. We were still smoking from the several
cartons of Marlboro I had picked up at the supermarket in Marigot Bay that had been set
alight by arsonists. Some say it was done by the owner for an insurance fiddle. Others said
he was a rude bastard and had rubbed a local up the wrong way who had in turn set his
shop on fire. Whatever the cause, an Israeli cruising friend of mine came to me one night
and said, “Ey Jonaton, dere ees a whole in da fence at dat burned down supermarket, some
of us ees going to check out what's not so burnt, wanna come along?” I had gone along
and we had crawled through “da leetle hole in da fence” and had come away with boxes
