1961-02-04 — Page 7

PLAN OF TAHITI NUI IN

Mutiny-and then I find

we have a food-thief

(Continued from page 6)

But suddenly, Jean let go of the end of the rope and dived. When at last he came to the nurface again he was a good 10 yards astern of the rope,

Instead of awimming quickly to grasp tha end of the rope, as any sensible person would have done; Jean began to tread water and wave one of his arms. For a moment I really thought that he had been attackted shark, but then we saw that he and bean brainless enough to take his booty, a large dolphin; in his arms.

At 11 am on Sunday. April Callao harbour into the north- 13, 1950, we were towed out of wers Bowing Humboldt CHT- rent. Now, Anally, we were on our own.

Not a sound-

among

conscious and ox-

when, half hausted, he was losing his grip,

When he came to in the cabin re complained of a severe pain in one leg, but it did not seem to be broken, We gave him good drink of whiskey and had We

long ewig ourselves tou.

About a week after we had sailed wo changed currents on ceady as a train crossing points were now heading west across the Pacific,

from one track to another. by. R

Before I could think out any

of saving him, meant

Hans plunged into the sea and resel-

After that we reduced sail and We had arranged to make speed, but still made runs of 50 radio calls at regular intervals to 60 miles a day.

to Callao. At the first appointed

A few days later came a dis-

a round camo from the motor, immediately We took it to bits and tried west.

South

Ume I pulled the starting rope agreeable surprise, According of the generator to make come to all the charts, the ed his friend with astonishing power for the transmitter,

Not Equatorial current swings south speed took the spont-gun from

aftor 120 degrees him, and began to tow both sh and man by means. of the line gels. The only result was a wanted to go.

That was the way we That way loy fastened to the arrows, which few suppressed coughing noises. Tahiti. in turn wIR fixed to the fish, still held by Jean.

The pair at last renched the end of the rope and we hauled

them on board.

Lower and lower

"I suppose you're proud of yourself now, you silly fool." Erle shouted furiously as soon as Jean had crawled on board, still clasp- ing the bleeding dolphin. "But I wonder it you'd have been as well pleased if the raft had sail- ed away from you and you'd had to swim ashore! It's a nice little swim, 200 miles.

And

We put the fanemitter away. But, in fact, the current drave

South Us north of this course. Equatorial current, and suddenly tinually changing direction.

the wind plagued us by con-

We were now on the

the sea, formerly a pale grey- green, became dark blue and. began to warm with tropical Ash.

The waters round Tahlii are this colour; we felt we were getting towards. home already. Everything was going accord- in to plan. The raft practically steered itself, Eric and I dis- cussed navigation and anthru- pology round the clock. Jean was absorbed with his world of collecting samples of plankton; "You don't seem to have liang (basically grasped the fact that the raft em't stop or turn back,

Any thing that falls overboard, in cluding the crew,

is gone far reading. Juanito slept.

good. And next time you want to show what a.smart fishernian you are, don't take a wounded fish in your arms.

"There's nothing that excites

Running out

Day after day we were driven

the aimlessly about

ocean Despite the good runs we had made early on, we were clearly going to spend longer

on the raft than we had anticipated. We began to wonder it cur food would last out. Drinking water was another wOITY, There had

Fondlubber a

been no rain at ofl.

And most disturbing of all, with few of the skills needed there was no doubt that the raft for this primitive form of was steadily settling lower and travel) killed most of the time lower in the water."

Record run

Six weeks went by. We were a shark's appelle so much as half way to Tahiti. blood. If there had been any.

about, they wouldn't have cont On the night of May 31 the tented themselves with the wind strengthened considerably, dolphin."

us

Next moment a wave washed over the platform on which I stood. I clung fast to the cabin and walled for the water to drafn away.

so.

But it did not de

Like a stone

on

Then the truth dawned me. The

been raft had not simply forced down under water by a viclent equal, but had sud- denly for some reason lost A large part of her already In one reduced buoyancy. disastrous moment she had sunit

early three feet.

In the pallid dawn, we dis- cussed what could be the ranson deelded to examine the and cypresa trunks.

After great exertions I s

help, eceded, with Jean's

In cutting one of the trunks in the bows. We saw at first glance that the stump we had cul off bored through by ship- vorras.

STA

When we threw it into the sen it rank like a stone. All the trunks wo examined were

also worm eaten,

When

we waded into the cabin, which was now more Ne a swimming pool than anything clse, we found that a great deal of our provisions and gear had been washed away.

We quiddy lifted up all the remaining cases, parcels, and apparatus into the upper berths or made them fast to the roof.

By the middle of June we had nearly eight inches of water in the cabla. We therefore raised

It was serious enough that the the lower bunks by this amount, raft had sunk almost three feet, violently and but, the water splashed about so but what was equally scrlous mads everything was that she was becoming

at.

sa damp that we all, whether extremely difficult to sicer. One we had upper or lower bunks, or two of my shipmates there- preferred to establish ourselves fore began to wonder if there This pleased us at first. But on the only dry place that was really any object in con- when daylight

The tinuing the tiring watches came we found remained-the cabin roof. It was a long time before that the bow had been forced roof was not more than 10ft. by the helm. To my great surprise Eric's anger subsided.

down a good four inches below 131. and at night it was swept Eric agreed with them. the surface by the pressure of the wind on the rails.

The fine weather continued.

in the water.

We shifted Jean's heavy cases and gear from the stern, and this did help, but not as much as we had hoped,

by a chilly wind,

A waste

But one ather perturbing fact

This chango was particularly made itself obvious; the stern of This did not at first disturb us unwelcome to Eric. Even for a the raft was beginning to sink unduly.

his determination, 68 We set about shifting man of

"My experience is that it is a an advanced cargo from the foredeck la Gre was

age_lo 1o pure waste of one's strength to nfterdeck. We all preferred falling across the ocean. He had try to fight against the forces nature," he said, smiling wetting our feet n little to haul been weakened by the rigours of ing in call and reducing speed. of the earlier crossing. Now it gently, for they are always

had became apparent that both his stronger than we are. In the last 21 hours we

and his will broken all our previous records physical strength The raft undoubtedly lay a with a rua of 80 miles.

power were beginning to run out. little lower in the water than

de scomed to be simply tired when we had loft Constitucion. But the movement of stores

the stem only partly find a single clear symptom of

and exhausted. We usaumed thin to be due to towards

We could not normal water absorption by the corrected the dip. And the any definite sickness.

violent driving of the raft mud. denly produced further unwel- como resuits:

timber.

port

of

At the Peruvian Callao we gave the raft a final overhaul, including our genera-

I know from experience on the previous voyage that his condition could easily be made tor and radio transmitter. This of June 4-5, while Juanito was we made a little tent for him During a squall in the night worse if he got cold and wet, so had not produced any reply to our calls

un the trip up the on watch alone, the raft oud- out of a piece of canvas.

South America coast.. but now oca and tools a heavy list.

denly swung broadside to the

a Peruvian radio fan presented.

and installed a new acrial, This

We dashed out on deck with

did produced some results. We the water splashing round our could just make contact from legs and tried to

grasp the

Cabin awash

As early az June 20 we saw

the harbour with him ashore, but slippery shoots and flapping clearly that wo no longer had We were Bssured that reception balls. I had just managed after any prospect of reaching Tahiit. was bad in the Callao area.

We also exchanged our heavy iron waler drums for aluminium tonka - a decision that was to prove of the utmost importance.

TARGET

ETR

DIY

INIG

S

How many

words of

or more con

ւե

on the letov

1

Taking

a violent struggle, to knot on my side of the cabin when I heard a thud from the other side.

"What did the old Polynesian seadogs do when they ran into a storm? They simply lay down to sicep, full of confidence that their sea god Tharon would help them.

**Sa let us in Polynesian fashion, sparo our strength for the days to come when we may need it more, and let the raft drift where she likes. Perhape Tauros will help us too..

This idea of just hoping for the best did not appeal to ma I still belloved there was a slight chaned of reaching the Marquesa Asiands.

I told Bele: "If we let the ralt just drift in the wind and current we shall go on and of through empty-ne:

Eric had been the organiser,

untic a But we were only 400 miles planter, and originai driving

We were well placed for reach But for wacka from the Marquesas Islands. spirit of the whole enterprise. he had been

At the same time someone yelled: "Man overboard!"

fre them, and were still daingilstless, wonkoned by liness. about 60 miles a day.

He seemed to have no plan for guiding the raft to a landfall Now he reknowledged his falling grip on the situation."

Only a few days later, how-

I splashed across the decks ever, there cine another dis-

and almost knocked Jean overs nstrous chanje for the worse, he was starching for a rope to

when the wind bogan to blow use as a life-line,

steadily from the wrong qutteder,

It was of course that land- the south-ms, and eradually in lubber Tang who had been creased in strength.

aluck by the mainsail and had tumbled in.

It

48.word

was blowing half a gale, end the sea

was roaring and festa hissing. I could see no sign of

rach of the

Die met once oniz. Each worh must contain the large letter, And then must be at least one ten-piter word in the jet No plis non tembra, wolna "TOFASE Pandiii) no words. pochi | "Te war Berg good a words. excellent.

Fruper

ค

Hand at all.

We took in ait mail except a little storm foresall in the bows.

long Despite this it was not

Ine the rough génell before which marked our route began

to point due weet -- we were being carried past the Mar Then I heard a whimpering queer Islands, north of them. sound near my feet. It was

day JAMA

after another

chakse in the course of bur

"It shall be as you wika." Eric sald in a spiritless voice when I had finished. “I em old. tired, and ill, and it is not right of me to try to force my will.) "I therefore hand over '-th command to you, Alain, so. from now on you will take cli impor tant decisions."

I would rather have bem appointed caplain under

choto Lavourable conditions, with a more #aworthy craft and 7. happier eres. But as I, with

could wis the only one who

clinging to one of the dranked on without appreciobio my Merphant Něvy experience, trunks in the raft's aide. ....... Bolution en · Wednes

Evidently he had had suffi- long drift. Every day diminated navigate the vermel, I had litte cient promético of mind to grow our chance of rosching, the choice the first olijeet his hande had · Marqueets,

„YESTERDAY'S SOLUTION 1 Enjoy amenul "njaan) falan feimy floe Have Yowse fani spuJIVO (M) 2009 lopie "joyin!" Jovi LAENENA Portera leno Teman, Fossy tond lase Fors Louse, Tapay dom noNg Pang voleb you) O.

touched after his fall,

More by Juck, than bruddi} Jean and I managed „ta 'boui » London Express Service. Hans or upard at the knochent

{ Beddedly. - whiin en watch dhe night, I felt the raft sink- soy under my 'Evet, meililiy sud

4

Boon wa hóg not only a dick men, among the crow, but - rutineer.

• This was Juanito. While act- Ingʻax Tretmanian brottet the raft WWİNE BOLDKi and Kimoxt, esprite.

י

LEFT: The start of a great adventure-the Tahili Nal is towed out of harbour by rowing boats. CENTRE: The layout of the

raft-five men's home for nearly 200'days, RIGHT: Eric de Bisschop in his tent on the cabin roof."

The result in the cabin was Our food and water position as soon as

All

I managed to be nested on the uninhabited rocky sorts of geOF, was now calamitous,

golting acute. We alone with Erle I told him island, cruised round the raft including a cina camera, was eased the water shortags slight- "It would only make matters for several hours, but returned sloshing about in three feet of ly by rigging a distilling ap worse to try to find the guilty to their home with mocking water; and even more depress- patatus in which we heated sea person." Erle rald, after think- farewell cries when the dusk ing was the discovery that two water with a paraffin stove, ing for a few minutes.

fell, leaving the raft driung of our small ten-gallon water containers were alco floating

slowly westward, a helpless vie "No one would confess, and tim of winds and currents. there, IldiesS.

the only consequence would be quatrelling. So let us just see the direction in which we were The next group of islands in It doesn't happen again.

I gave Juanito aprelty stiff telling off. The result was that he refused to take any more watches at the helm.

Not a chance

It seemed for a few days that I might be right in thinking we could steer for the Marquesas,

Scene southward occan cur- rent carried us in the right direction. But the hope was short-lived. It Goon became

was app: rent that there-

no chance whatever of us reaching those islands.

The discovery

But it was clear our supply of parafin-bout six gallons

would not just for ever, while it

"Leck up all the food in one dritting consisted of the three of the large cases which have line, Vostok, and Flint, and they widely separated atolls Caro- padlocks, Serve yourself.

the

rations

looked as if our voyazo might.

For several days our courro had been west-north-west,

"And I give you Another that we were on our way towards bit of udvice. Stop the distilling

a particularly desolate part of apparatus at night. A disting the Pacific, where the anal and apparitus which is working 24 mostly uninhabited atolls were hours a day ought to give more so few and widely scattered that water than ours does.. we might go on for thousands "I've been keeping an eye on of miles without seeing a single it for the last few days, and one.

the result is always worse -- at night, when most of us asleep, than in the daytime."

2 therefore made a completo Inventory of our stores for the second fime in a fortnight, and 1 saw at once that we were short of Ave ins of condensed milk.

I was furious. I did not let the others see from my face that there was anything wrong, but

were about 100 miles away. If we missed them too we should have to go on for at least an- other 1,200 miles to Samoa, or further than that Wo dared not think.

NEXT WEEK:

I look his advice. Time to abandon the Tahiti Nui...

On July 1 we passed-Elao, the northernmost island in the

Marquesas group, at a distance series is based on

From Rafi to Raft, published

This

by: Allen & Unwin (21)

NEW

of only 35 miles. A crowd of white seabirds, which evidently

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