Escape by Nicole Stuart

Author:Nicole Stuart [Stuart, Nicole]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Literature & Fiction, Science Fiction & Fantasy, Science Fiction, Adventure, Post-Apocalyptic
Amazon: B00E2RXTIM
Publisher: Caravan Publishing
Published: 2013-07-20T04:00:00+00:00

Chapter 13

The cleaning crew to Reef Explorer was headed by Chad. They left early in the morning, carrying their lunch packs, expecting a hard two day’s work. Roger stayed back at the farm to attend to the detailed planning. He had built a very successful career on the basis of detailed, careful planning, but that had always been in a field in which he had expert knowledge! Now, he had practically no knowledge or experience, and he needed to become an expert quickly! Amelia had checked the lists of skills that the people had prepared in those first days after the explosion, and informed him regretfully that no-one in Mount Victoria had any sailing or ship experience, which meant that some of them had to learn how to do it, and in a hurry! He had brought charts and navigation handbooks from both ships, and now he set to studying them, trying to extract meaningful information as quickly as possible. Sandra sat with him, working together with him, and gradually they started to understand the elements of their plan. They had a choice of heading north from Sydney, and passing through the gap between Australia and Papua New Guinea, with favorable currents and warm weather. The alternative was to head south, then turn to the west between Australia and Tasmania, heading into the Southern Ocean. The northern route posed the risk of piracy, and was slightly longer, although that would be mitigated by the favorable current, while the southern route carried a much higher risk of rough seas and heavy weather, with a stronger current against them. Roger and Sandra decided to work on the northern route, reasoning that the risk of piracy must have declined by now. There had almost certainly been no ships for the pirates to prey on for the past two years at least! Looking at the current patterns, it was easy to see why Gentle Jane had headed for a point south of the Comoros before turning south, to head between Mozambique and Madagascar, rather than taking the direct route from the Seychelles to the southern tip of Africa. The current there would give them a boost of from two to four knots, a significant advantage in a sailboat! Roger wondered whether that would be as significant in a power vessel, such as they would be using. He did the calculations. Assuming a current advantage of two knots over a voyage of fifteen days at an average speed through the water of ten knots, the benefit would add up to a saving of three days! And that did not take into account any contrary current on another course! The benefit was clear! Now that he understood the calculation, Roger referred to the Ship’s Manual. The information stored there told him that the most economical speed, in terms of fuel used per nautical mile, was in the region of twelve knots. This could be adjusted for the salinity level of the water, water temperature, ship’s draft

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