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墨書 Inktalez
Accompanied by the cheers from the bowl, I looked over, and the first impression that struck me was one of awe; besides awe, it could only be described as beauty and grandeur.
It felt as if we were inside a crystal-clear glass sphere, with a dome filled with countless stars. Where the sea met the sky, there was no obvious boundary. Countless moonlit jellyfish swam in groups, emitting a faint glow that illuminated a vast stretch of beach. It was as if jewels were radiating their light, making the entire sea appear transparent.
This was a massive swarm of jellyfish, stretching endlessly.
“Wow! Brother Xia, there are fountains in the water too! How spectacular!” The bowl clapped continuously. I looked closely and indeed saw a column of seawater shooting up. “It's a Blue Whale!” The Blue Whale was not far from us, perhaps just about a hundred meters away. Gradually, three or four more Blue Whales swam over, splashing water around.
To identify the species of whales, aside from their appearance, experienced individuals often rely on the water spouts they produce. The sperm whale's spout is tall and long, while the toothed whale's spout is short and thick. The Blue Whale's misty spout is narrow and straight, reaching heights of six to twelve meters.
Suddenly, waves rippled across the surface of the water, causing our Vessel to lurch upward. We looked down at the sea, and an enormous shadow of deep blue glided beneath the boat! Fifty meters away, it leaped out of the water like a mountain. It was both breathtaking and terrifying; I thought to myself, “That’s incredibly scary! Thankfully this giant doesn’t eat people; otherwise, we wouldn’t even be enough to fill its teeth!”
Old Du once wrote a poem: “Or see on emerald green reeds, not yet caught is the whale in the azure sea.” Surely Du Fu had never seen such a colossal creature; otherwise, he wouldn’t have penned such exaggerated lines.
At that moment, Xiao Xiao spoke up, “Blue Whales are widely distributed. Based on my experience, we might be in part of the South Pacific. As for where exactly… who knows!” Wasn’t that basically saying nothing? However, it did reveal some information: it meant we had entered the vast center of the Pacific Ocean, where encountering islands was highly unlikely… From what I understood, this area had very few shipping routes; if there were no islands along the way, it meant there would be very few planes as well.
“We can’t just drift like this; it seems like the Vessel's power system is broken! Can we think of a way to get the boat moving?”
“Use a sail; this thing is too heavy; you’ll need to steer!” Xiao Xiao said as she fashioned an oilcloth into a makeshift Sail and handed me a rope. She patiently instructed:
“A sailboat operates using Bernoulli's principle; when air flows over a wing-like curved surface, it creates an upward force that propels the sailboat forward.” After finishing her explanation, she paused and pointed out various positions on the Sail for detailed clarification.
“There’s an old saying ‘smooth sailing,’ but for beginners like us, catching a Favorable Wind can be quite challenging. When a Favorable Wind blows parallel to the boat without lateral pressure for balance, it’s easy to lose stability and capsize.” After explaining this, Xiao Xiao tugged on the rope and demonstrated some maneuvers. I practiced several times before finally grasping how to operate it correctly.
"If we encounter a Crosswind, it will be met by the Sail, transforming into two forces: one that causes the boat to slide sideways and another that propels it forward. The sideways force is countered by the Centerboard, which converts it into a heeling force, and the sailor adjusts their center of gravity to balance it out, leaving only a minimal sideways force. At this point, most of the power is directed forward." With that, Xiao Xiao demonstrated the operation again.
"If we face headwinds, the Sail generally has a limit of 45 degrees. The concept of sailing against headwinds is quite similar to that of sailing in Crosswinds. If we encounter headwinds, the lateral force is greater than in Crosswinds, while the forward force is less than in Crosswinds; this makes it easy to learn but difficult to master." With that, Xiao Xiao performed another demonstration. At that moment, a Favorable Wind arrived, and I spent a full sixteen hours grasping the essentials, leaving my arms sore.
"By the way! Now that we have an engine, how do we determine our direction?"
"Our Ancestors observed the sun during the day and the stars at night. Observing the sun is straightforward. What constellation is easiest and best to identify in the sky?"
I gazed up at the vast starry sky and spotted a group of stars resembling a spoon: "The Big Dipper Seven Stars?"
"Exactly! The Big Dipper is visible all year round. In ancient times, they determined the seasons based on the direction of the Dipper Handle: when it points east, it's spring; south, summer; west, autumn; and north, winter. Since it's summer now, the Dipper Handle points south!"
Knowing one direction allows us to determine others based on north being up and south being down, east being left and west being right. This aligns with Confucius's idea of 'learning one thing and inferring three.' Our direction was relatively clear; sailing south in this area would make it easier to encounter islands and shipping routes.
Our Ancestors often carried navigational materials such as Navigational Guide, Fair Winds and Following Seas, and Logbook. These materials typically included formats detailing routes from one island to another based on specific directions and estimated travel times. They would note hazards like reefs or specific fish species if it were a more detailed guide.
Years ago, I had read Zheng He's Navigation Charts published by Zhonghua Book Company, which included an appendix of Navigational Guide! Although not particularly useful for our current waters, it provided much inspiration. When I read Columbus's Logbook back then, I was filled with longing for these seas; now I found myself adrift here, feeling quite reflective.
As time passed—one day turned into two, then five... We relied on rainwater and fishing for sustenance; feelings of depression set in as loneliness accompanied us. However, since there were three of us, we managed to play some games to pass the time. The sea remained dark, indicating we were still in deep waters. I wondered how much longer we would drift. I recalled some historical accounts of drifting.
Not long ago, news reported three Mexican fishermen who drifted for 85 days on the Pacific before being rescued, setting a record for the longest time adrift at sea. In 1800, the Essex was struck by a whale; 20 crew members escaped on lifeboats and drifted for three months at sea. They resorted to cannibalism; only eight survived.
In 1940, a merchant's ship sank after being struck by a torpedo. The merchant escaped on a lifeboat and fashioned two fishhooks from lamp wire and iron nails to survive by fishing until he was rescued after 1 year.
In 197, drifting for 118 days, Morris and Marilyn Bailey had plenty of canned food, a stove, books, and playing cards on board.
In 198, Stephen Callahan was rescued after drifting for 76 days. He had two solar evaporators to convert seawater into fresh water and a speargun. Seven years later, Bill Butler and Simone Butler drifted for 66 days with fishing gear, dominoes, canned food, blankets, a radio, and seven bottles of Evian Water.
As we aimlessly floated, we all felt a bit restless. The initial awe of the vastness of the deep sea had become trivial.
All the stored fresh water was gone. It hadn't rained for several days, and not even seabirds could be seen in the sky. It was clear that there were no islands nearby; even seabirds couldn't cross this expanse of ocean. To survive, we had to rely on catching fish. Fishing became our only source of enjoyment.
Fortunately, the fish here had never encountered humans and didn't know what bait was. They were easy to catch. I took out an iron nail, bent it, tied it to a hemp rope, and found a thin stick to use as a fishing rod. Using some leftover food as bait, I was quite pleased with my fishing gear and found it easy to use.
Xiao Xiao was an expert in this area; she found a good spot to anchor the boat and set up the sail. Using the remnants of our previous food, she mixed a few scoops of bait into the water. As soon as the bait hit the surface, splashes erupted as a school of fish rushed to feed. After casting my line for the first time, I gauged the water flow speed and wind direction. The fishing rod twitched slightly for a moment; I quickly pulled it up but caught nothing. Xiao Xiao smiled slightly, signaling me not to rush.
On my second cast, I finally felt fish biting; the rod shook vigorously. With a flick of my wrist and a gentle tug on the rod, I hooked a fish that felt small—there wasn't much bend in the rod. As I lifted the rod while reeling in gently, a beautiful Firepoint Fish broke the surface.
Then another Saury came up, weighing about one or two pounds—not very big. Xiao Xiao asked playfully, "Do you want to catch bigger fish? I have a trick; are you interested?"
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(To be continued) 1946
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