The Fight of the Firecrest by Alain Gerbault

Author:Alain Gerbault [Gerbault, Alain]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Firecrest, Voyages and travels
Publisher: New York : D. Appleton
Published: 1926-12-15T00:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER TEN

FIERCE GALES IN THE HURRICANE ZONE

THE 9th of August, sixty-four days out from Gibraltar, found the Firecrest about five hundred miles east of the Bermuda Islands, and approximately one thousand two hundred miles from New York, my port. So, judging by experiences thus far I reckoned that it would require about one month more to complete the voyage; but, at the same time, I knew the past was no guide to what there might be to come.

I felt sure that strong westerly gales lay between my present position and the American coast, a forecast that was amply and fully realized. In fact, I had a taste of what was coming on that very day.

There had been rain squalls and a very confused sea all night. The wind was westerly, very strong and dead ahead. I had shaped my coarse to pass south of Bermuda, and cut the Gulf Stream so far south as to get the benefit of its north-easterly current in carrying me up to New York; so I laid the Firecrest on the starboard tack and headed her south-west.

During the forenoon she lay practically hove to under forestaysail while I repaired several rips in the mainsail, but by the afternoon, when I was ready to set it again, the wind had increased to a gale.

The seas were running high and broke on board frequently throughout the afternoon. The deck seemed constantly under water. The narrow little cutter lay heeled over before the blast as she drove into the seas, burying her lee rail at times several feet under water.

The deck sloped like the roof of a house and I had to be careful in moving about. One slip and I should have gone overboard to leeward, and the cutter, with no one on board, would have gone on her way leaving me food for sharks and bonita.

The deck was so badly washed that I had to keep the skylights and hatchways closed. This made it hot and uncomfortable below decks. Cooking under such conditions was a difficult task. My forecastle was just wide enough to stand in between the stove on the starboard side and the water casks and the galley on the other.

If, in a thoughtless moment, I set down a cup or dish it was likely to be hurled spinning across the forecastle on to the opposite locker or the floor. My stove, too, had a habit of tossing a kettle of water, or a dishful of hot food, on my bare legs and feet; so I had to watch it carefully when the cutter was pitching about.

That day a huge whale swam swiftly across the bow of the Firecrest, making the spray fly in a turmoil. The monster was making approximately ten knots, and was very likely running before the swordfish, his natural enemies.

The gale continued throughout the night. I had put the Firecrest on the other track, heading north-north-west, and, after trimming the sails so that she would hold to that course, let

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