2020-04-01 Reader\'s Digest AUNZ

easily.Riehmexplainedthesituation.
Asalways,Randolphtriedtokeep
thingslight.Shesaid,“Thisisthe
secondtimewechangedourroute,
andit justkeepscomingforus.”
At1.18am,theshipstartedtopitch
moreviolently.Davisrecommended
slowingdown.Theywereapproaching
thewaypointwhereDavidson’sroute
plancalledforthesignificantturnto
theleft,takingtheship,asthecaptain
believed,acrossthepathofthehurri-
canea safedistancefromtheeye.
Randolphdidnotwant to do it. She
calledDavidsonon
thehouse phone
andproposedthe
escaperoutetothe
southanda smooth
sailontoSanJuan.
He rejected her
suggestion.Despite
theuncertaintiesin
theforecast,hewas
convinced of his
strategy.Hehadnotyetdownloaded
thelatestBVSpackage,emailedtohis
computerat11pm.
WhenRandolphgotoffthephone,
shesaidtoDavis,“Hesaidtorunit.”
Shemeantthecourseasplanned.
Shesaid,“Holdontoyourass!”and
laughed.
ElFaroentereda squall.Overthe
nexthour,theconditionsdeteriorated,
andtheshipbegantolabour,unable
toexceed 30 km/h.Bynow,thestress-
esontheshipwereenormous.Objects
exposedtothewind were banging,

breakingandflyingaway.OnDeck2,

belowthemaindeckwherethecon-

tainerswerestacked,waterbegan

washinginthroughopeningsonthe

sides,swirlingaroundthewheelsof

thecargotrailerssecuredthereand

washingoutjustasfast.Thiswasno

reasonforconcernbecausethedeck

wassealedofffromtheengineroom

andthecargoholdsbelow.

Theshipkeptsmashingahead.At

1.55Randolphsaid,“Wooo!Thatwas

agoodwave. Definitelylostsome

speed.”

Davis said,

“Damnsuredon’t

want to lose the

plant.” Hemeant

theship’sengine.

The captain

wantedfullspeed

in ordertocross

thestormagood

distancefromthe

eye.IntheNorth-

ernHemisphere,thecirculation

aroundhurricanesrunscounter-

clockwise.Thewindsrightnowwere

northerlyandcomingattheship

fromtheleftside.IftheBVSmap

wascorrect,theeyelayaheadand

welltotheleft.Accordingtothat

model,thewindswouldbecome

northwesterly(directlyastern)as

ElFaropassedabeamtheeye,and

wouldshifttosouthwesterlyand

thensoutherly(ontherightside)

astheshipsteamedbeyondit.But

this never happened – the ship was

THE FIRST

OFTHEREALLY

BIG WAVES

REARED.

“OHMY GOD!”

RANDOLPH SAID

122 April 2020

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