Alone Across the Pacific Ocean by Alex Bellini

Author:Alex Bellini
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: The 5th Element

Land, June 2008

In the months in which we planned the Pacific project, we never failed to talk about what to do if we had to handle an emergency. There was a big question on this point. If I hadn’t heard from Alex by phone for a certain amount of time, how would I be able to tell if his boat moving on the water was pushed by currents or the power of his arms? If I couldn’t get a hold of him by phone, how many hours should I wait before notifying an emergency rescue?

These were not easy conversations. Out of fear of jinxing it, Alex refused to even consider it.

I knew that some phone dates, even if set, could be skipped. Sometimes he might fall asleep exhausted without touching a bite to eat after a hard day; or problems with the satellite coverage, particularly in bad weather, could stop him from getting a connection. At those times Alex tried at least to send me a text message to assure me that all was fine.

But on that day I couldn’t get a hold of him before going to sleep and the next morning I hadn’t got a call. So I tried to call him myself, but the phone kept on ringing with no answer.

I wasn’t worried. I was sure that the situation was under control, but I couldn’t explain why he didn’t answer. I remember that I joked with friends, pretending to be a jealous woman and imagining what scandalous encounters he might have in that uninhabited sea. Finally, after more than twelve hours of silence, Alex answered my umpteenth phone call with a whisper. Suddenly, from the other end of the line, I heard a strange noise that sounded like a burst of water. He spoke quietly and from the tone of his voice I realized he was very serious, but I didn’t immediately understand what was happening. “I’ve been surrounded by some huge whales for more than an hour. They keep on swimming around my boat. They are so close, that I could have touched their backs, and I’m starting to get scared. Maybe they were just curious, but, believe me, I’m not having fun.” My blood turned to ice. I couldn’t fully grasp the situation, but the tone of his voice showed his worry.

Alex’s encounters with sea animals had always a held a strange fascination and mystery for me when he told me about them. I was very impressed by his encounters with sharks, which happened almost always on the days when he dove down to clean off the hull. Once I asked him why he had to dive on the same days that he had already seen a shark, and he answered, “If I don’t jump in the water right away, I’d never find the courage to do it again.” He’d said it so simply that I couldn’t argue.

I never thought something really serious could happen to him. I didn’t think of him as a suicidal crazy man, or even someone who didn’t have an understanding of the value of his life.

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