C James

Yep, Reunion is a big target; over 30 miles wide from that angle, and he could see it from a long ways off (the highest peaks is about 10,000 feet). So, he's got a very good chance of making it, unless something goes wrong. And as I'm fond of saying, what could possibly go wrong? I was in a bind for longitude... There are only two ways to determine it, and a timepeice is one of 'em. The other is lunar parallax, but Trevor has neither the knowledge of the instrumentation to do it. See? All is well in the story, and Trevor is steering by the sun and the stars. Cliffie?! But, there are no cliffs, or cliffhangers, in circumnavigation! Steering by the wrong constellation? I think I can safely but any doubts to rest without giving a spoiler. In the chapter, the constellation he's using is clearly described.

It sure is a good thing that they thought of everything, and have all their problems solved... oh, wait... Cory has a great point; they need to stop deciding things for him. I wonder if they learned their lesson? Hrmm, Where will Jake be living now? (He's already moved out of his old house). Hrmmm, A three-way between three friends is one thing, but can they make it a real three-way relationship? Have they even thought through what's involved? And there are a few other little minor details... but what could possibly go wrong?

Chapter 53, R

LoL! Well, we know that Trevor's navigation isn't perfect. Good point on Port Louis... That's on Mauritious, about 110 miles northeast of Reunion. The only problem is, Mauritious is a little out of Atlantis's course range (too far to the left of the wind course) so he picked Reunion. The problem with Trevor trying for Australia is time. He has a few weeks of food left, but his netting sail is made of stuff that's not designed for sun exposure, and couldn't stand a storm anyway. The other problem is the wind... He was going to jump off from Rodreguz Island, and from there he'd be looking at crosswind sailing for much of the way, which he can't really do under jury rig. The greatest enemy is time; even at the best speed he could hope to average on a direct route, he's looking at months. Atlantis can't sail that route in her current state, can't last that long, and neither can Trevor. "Reunion or Bust!" might sum it up well, and that chapter will be posting in less than an hour. I'll see what I can find for a suitable wind chart and add it at the bottom of the chapter. Thanks Red!

There are shipping lanes running around the tip of South Africa, and some go to, or past, Reunion and Mauritius. So, there would be some sea traffic. It would be a case of luck. Trevor is alone, on a stripped, damaged, crippled boat. He'll need every bit of skill he's ever had... but will it be enough? Reunion or Bust! will post soon, so we'll learn the, ah, naked truth.

Degrees of latitude are always 69 (that's rounded to the nearest mile) standard (statute) miles. (111 of those strange kilometer things that some folks insist on using. ) Longitude is trickier. It to is 69 miles at the equator. But, if you look at a globe, or a non-Mercator-projection map, you'll see that lines of longitude converge at the poles. So, the further away from the equator you get, the smaller the number of miles in a degree of longitude. At 45 degrees north or south, you're halfway to the pole, so a degree is half as large as at the equator. Nope, he uses the astrolabe for latitude (distance from the equator, south in his case). It's useless for longitude. (east-west). He presently (chapter 52) does not have a means for determining longitude (that's covered in the next chapter). The compass will point to magnetic north, which isn't geographic north. For this, I blame Canada! (the north magnetic pole is, after all, in your territory! Well, until recently it was... It's presently off Ellesmere island and heading away at about 40 miles a year.. you should really take better care of it!) However, a compass is also affected by magnetic deviation, so may not always point at magnetic north. The geographic north pole is the true north pole, and is located at 90 degrees north. The true north and south poles are basically the earth's axis of rotation. Polaris (the pole star) appears directly over (less than a degree off). If you find Polaris in the sky, look down (to the horizon) below it, and that's true north. The Southern Cross can be used to find true south, basically four and a half times the length of the top to bottom distance, measured down from the base, and you are at the southern celestial pole. Geographical north and true north are the same thing. Trevor is south of the equator, so he's in the Southern Hemisphere. Yes, it's a much simpler device, that does some of what a sextant can do. A sextant sights on both the horizon (in some cases an artificial horizon) and the sun or a star, giving an angle between. It's far more accurate than an astrolabe. Trevor had one, but the pirates took it. There are quite a few different kinds. It is... Trevor is having to develop a means of navigation from scratch. It's part of the story, but the methods used work, so one of my goals it to explain them in the narration understandably. Who knows, someone might read this, and then years later find themselves in an emergency at sea or lost on land, and make use of them. It's also important for the plot. Poor Trevor!! He's in more danger than he knows!

I've never been to Reunion, but I'd love to... from the pictures, it looks very much like Hawaii. Here's a photo I found online. He's going to need to approach Reunion from the northwest, heading southeast. So, he'll need latitude and longitude. The winds make it tricky.. he's following a course that's an arc, bending west towards Madagascar, then following the wind as it bears towards the southeast. The shaded area is what was within his ability to reach at first (by steering as much as he could to either side of the wind track) and the red line is his planned course. He does have a further advantage; he can estimate his speed fairly well by eye (from his experience) to within about 20% of actual. So, he can estimate his distance covered. It's an additional navigational datapoint, and it does help a little. Basically, he's in a situation where he has to do everything right the first time, and it still might not be enough. However, the wind leave him little option; Reunion is the only land within the shaded area (the area he can reach). and he'd better hope for help when he gets close, otherwise he's heading for Reunions northwest coast, which is kind of rugged; in many places, just soaring, ah, vertical rocky escarpments. However, there are some ports and beaches as well... plus some reefs. He's using a map, not a chart, so he can't tell what the coastline is like. He's facing a bit of a challenge.

You raise some very good points! If anything does not work in real life, then I've screwed up, badly. I've tried the astrolabe, ON DRY LAND, and it's pretty decent the way Trevor is using it; aiming the barrel at the sun so it casts a round spot of light on his stomach (that gives an effective sight length of a couple of feet). That gives him a true line on the sun. As a guess, I'd say it's accurate to within a degree or so. On land. A big catamaran like Atlantis is very stable, especially in calm seas, but there is of course some motion, and you're 100% right, motion degrades the accuracy. So, let's say, for a round number, that the motion of the sea triples the inaccuracy. He's still within three degrees for latitude. (longitude can't be determined with an Astrolabe... we'll find out about that in 53, along with the issue that the sun's apparent height in the sky changes with the seasons). But, for now, let's say 3 degrees on latitude. A degree of latitude is 69 statute (not nautical) miles. So, Trevor could calculate his position as much as 207 miles north or south of actual. That's a lot. But, he's taking numerous sightings, throwing out the outliers, and averaging... That should, most of the time, get him to within two degrees, or 138 miles north or south of his actual position. His guess is he's accurate to within a hundred miles, which isn't far off; he won't be off by the maximum ever time; statistically, his error will almost always be less than the max possible error, because the error is a random function. (So, for him to be off by maximum, it's like rolling a pair of dice and coming up 12; very possible, but it's not going to happen every time). So, at least half the time, it's safe to say his calculated position will be within a hundred miles of his actual position. (if he drew a line, north to south, 200 miles long, he'd be somewhere on it). The use of the astrolabe is simple. For this we're going to assume it's the day of the Equinox, September 23rd, when the sun is directly over the equator. (we'll see how to correct for date in 53). Trevor sights on the sun, and at it's highest point in the sky, the average of his sightings shows that it's at 80 degrees above the northern horizon (90 is straight up). On his astrolabe scale, he gets 10 degrees (the difference between vertical and the sun). That means he's 10 degrees south of the equator. Now, to find Reunion... the island is quite mountainous. and about 40 miles wide on his approach vector. Given decent visibility, he could see it from over 50 miles away. But, let's knock that down a bit... say 40. That means his effective target is 120 miles wide. There are other factors as well; tropical islands often spawn thunderstorms in the afternoons, and those can be seen from even further away (even atolls do this... I've seen it many times). But, that high pressure system mentioned would dampen that, so let's toss that factor out. Same with the city lights at night (if there are high clouds, you can see the glow from a hundred miles away). So, we're looking at a target roughly 120 miles across. Miss by more than 60 miles either side of the center of the target, and you miss it. Trevor's accuracy is (talking latitude only for simplicity here) 100 miles. However, if Trevor's track is 60 miles to the side, he might not be able to come close enough to the island to be seen by shore traffic and rescued... So, let's reduce that further, and make the usable target 100 miles wide. So, we can guess (yep, I'm extrapolating here) as high as a 50% chance of either reaching Reunion directly, or coming close enough to be sighted and rescued. I'd feel comfortable saying he's got as much as a 40% chance, assuming, that is, that he makes no mistakes. He only has one shot at Reunion... he can't go upwind, so once he's past, he's past. And from there, the winds and current would carry him southeast, in a crippled, stripped, unseaworthy, half-sinking boat, no supplies, and no clothes, into the heart of the polar southern ocean; the roaring forties and furious fifties. And, the worst seas on earth, bar none, are in roaring forties and furious fifties south of the Indian ocean (and that netting sail would be shredded in minutes by the massive storms that occur there).

Yep, all EPIRBS are gone, along with all of Atlantis's electronics, even the solar cells and batteries. The pirates basically stripped Atlantis bare. I can't really say, other than yes, Dirk is waiting for the statutes of limitations to run out. I can say that, over the next two chapters, we learn exactly what the crimes involved were. We'll soon learn the naked truth. Here's a link that explains latitude and longitude very well (and briefly) and explains about the coordinate system I'd very much like others to weigh in on this too... Please. I need to know what's not coming across, so I can clear it up. Please, if anyone has any questions on this, post them. The navigational techniques Trevor is using (we see a couple of other techniques in 53) are real, and work. They can save your life if you find yourself lost, either at sea or on land, which is one of the reasons I want to be sure they come across okay.

Hello and welcome to our forum! Thanks!! Like Talonrider said, a chapter should appear every Tuesday. Occasionally I do run a day or so late, but not often. Great memory!!! I'm surprised anyone got that. Okay, to quote... look to the bottom right of this post. There's a row of buttons just under the text frame (Assuming you're not reading the site in text mode). One says "reply" and to the right of it is "multiquote". To reply (with name and date added) to one post, hit "reply" on that post. It should quote it for you. To reply to several posts, click on "multiquote" on each post. (the button should change color when you do). When you've selected all the posts you want to reply to, scroll to the bottom of the page and click on "Add reply". Hrmmm, I think it's time to release the title of chapter 53... "Reunion or Bust!"

There won't... when he lines up on the sun, the plumb line falls on the arc. No chance of getting them released on bod while they are on the run, and Dirk needs to stay out of their hands. And yep, the Egyptians are still investigating... The pirates, revolt? Do you see the danger there? All kinds of bad puns from me about how the pirates are revolting... The only problem is, arriving naked in icy islands would be kind of.. chilly. Yep, he'd have seen any EPIRB. All his EPIRBS are gone. The pirates pretty well stripped Atlantis. But, at least he was able to rescue his garlic crusher. *********** Anyone have any questions on the navigation, area, or anything? Trevor still has some navigation issues to solve... Oh, here's a trivia question... The island of Reunion was mentioned in one of my prior novels. Anyone remember which one?

Exactly! Us goats are altitude averse. But if it's anything like a cliff, or a cliffhanger, a goat would always avoid it.

Chapter 52, "Finding the Way", is up. The naked journey continues.

Hrmmm!!! Very interesting! But, that's a dam, not a cliff, so all is well. After all, we all know that goats avoid cliffs (and cliffhangers) 110% of the time!

Thank you!!! I have a huge amount of help from my team, so the story is very much a team effort. Your handle indicates you're a fellow travel addict. :2thumbs: What? Circumnavigation, like all my stories, is entirely cliffhanger-free. You're right: he's heading for the fishing grounds. And yep, they are heading in opposite directions. The water depth in that area varies, from ten thousand to as much as 15000. Very deep. That's where Trevor was heading for a while, when he had that little problem in chapter 48. And yep... what's on the Ares besides the asset list is something they are terrified of, for very good reason. It's their main motive for trying to stop the search for the wreck of the Ares (framing Dirk was icing on the cake). I can't say what it is (the Echidna would get me) but I can perhaps get away with saying what it's not... It's not an aardvark. Great point you've raised on the winds! That's a snap of a real wind chart for the area from mid-October, 2006. You're 100% right on the seasonal winds, but those are averages, and often are temporarily changed due to weather systems (in this case, a high pressure cell to Trevor's southeast, and in the southern hemisphere, high pressure systems rotate counter-clockwise). That's bending the winds a bit, so instead of their usual flow from southeast to northwest, they shifted to heading west, and will then shift some more to the southwest. A seized engine is indeed toast in this case. One coming close under these circumstances would be heavily damaged. Good point on the water... there would be tons of it, and it would slow Atlantis a lot. He has to either pump or bail it. Did anyone notice how? (it's in this chapter, and a prior one long ago, showing what he can use for a pump). He does, but one was in his ditch bag (gone) and one in his nav desk (they took the whole desk and drawers). The third is hull-mounted and was in the cockpit (and in a very prominent location), a type that releases and auto-activates if submerged. Would the pirates leave it? Would Trevor have seen it if they did? We'll find out in chapter 52. Trevor is at the mercy of the wind... The Algol wasn't, when it's engines were working, and was heading for the fishing grounds. They do have a watermaker (Trevor's) but... without power from the engines, they couldn't run it. (solar panels would not provide enough juice). Siphoning wouldn't work... the water level in the bilges would be at or below the water line, and you can't siphon uphill. However, there is a way... Trevor even described it once, to Joel, and we saw him sort of use it once in this chapter. And yep, Atlantis can only run downwind, or close to, with her current rig. She's badly crippled in many ways. The next chapter is called "Finding the Way". One thing it will include is maps plus some wind info, which should help.

Chapter 51 is up. Sorry for breaking the schedule, but I'm going away for two days and it was either post now, or be a day late.

Ummm, any chance of a cliffhanger-free award for chapter 48? And, ahem, my name is not Cliff! (We all know that a goat would never have anything to do with a cliff, or a cliffhanger!) Err, well, um, sorta on the name... CJ is a name I go by online and off. Even my relatives call me CJ. It's actually an abbreviation for a nickname my friends pegged me with on a surfing safari in my teens... For those who have read my short story "Category %" on my site, and remeber the water entry scene (the protagonist has to get himself, and his surfboard, into the water off the top of a, er, vertical rocky escarpment, and does so by timing the storm's waves and then jumping). Well, I did a much milder version of that; smaller escarpment, smaller waves, milder storm. So, after my freinds declaired me insane after seeing me do it (it really wasn't that risky) they came up with that name, which stuck. I got pegged with the name (the J stands for Jumper, and the Frog never lets me forget what the C stands for...) Gotta love the irony: me, a devout avoider of cliffs, going by the initials of the my surfing nickname.. CJ. It's actually a jar of sea salt. Australia is the key... and who is in Australia? Graeme! Hrmmm, very suspicious! Bingo on the sailing! He had a hard time even getting Atlantis to stop. Good point. The parts would be useless; very different engines (in both size and design). However, he might be able to make use of the entire engine. Thank you! I always try, in any risky situation a character might be in, to make sure the "way out" is plausible and realistic, and also non-obvious. LoL! We shall see...

I thought I'd share a few links about Freediving, and it's physiological effects. These are part of what I based Trevor's survival on. http://www.impulseadventure.com/freedive/ http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Free-diving The Wikipedia page has an entry on physiology, which lists the physiological changes, and links to very detailed explanations. There was also a separate issue; the cramps in the forearm. That's where the muscles are that control many movements of the hand and fingers, including the motion of the thumb. This can cause the thump to press into the palm of the hand, and if you try doing that (press the tip of your thumb fairly hard against the middle of your little finger) you'll notice that the base of the hand (the part between the base of the thumb and the wrist) changes shape significantly, becoming much less of an impediment to slipping anything over it. That method is one way Houdini (after a lot of training) was able to free himself from handcuffs in moments. The key here is it's the base of the hand, and not the wrist, that has to be changed in order to get cuffs (handcuffs, or rope bindings) off. If it wasn't for the base of the hand, pulling out of either would be easy. Trevor therefor had two separate (but mutually supporting) events that worked to free him. The cramps, and the loss of turgidity (firmness) in the soft tissues of the base of the hand. It was just enough to allow him to wiggle free. Either alone may well have been enough, if the ropes weren't too tight. Also, Trevor, as we saw in chapter 48, was breathing hard and fast (there were at least three mentions) prior to the decent. That's pre-breathing, which would extend his ability to hold his breath (even thaough that was not his intent at the time). He'd also have the advantage of the increased partial pressure of oxygen as the air in his lungs was compressed (aiding his lungs in extracting more O@ from the air), but that quickly goes the other way as he nears the surface. He's seen, in an early chapter, snorkeling deep (to the sea floor off Bimini, searching for Ares) and that's freediving, and going that deep shows he has some considerable experience at it. The pre-breathing, the blood shift (the life being crushed out of him... blood is life, no?) and prebreathing, and cramps, are in in chapter 48 as forshdowing and set-up. I'll be honest, I was nervous about all this, so I researched it as much as I was able, short of actually trying it (I'm not that dedicated! ) That's why I included the cramps; to give a separate plausible means of escape if the freediving physiology proved inadequate.

And, in addition, I'd very much like to mention that I am not eligible for this year's King of Cliffhanger award. And yes, the preceding sentence is irrefutably true!

Cliffhanger?!!! Cliffhanger??? How can a garlic crusher be a cliffhanger? Well, unless you're a clove of garlic, that is. Atlantis had three EPIRBS. One was mounted in the cockpit, and is the type that auto-activates when submerged (and can be activated manually). One was in Trevor's ditch bag, and the third (the one he mistook for the garlic crusher) was in his nav desk drawer. We know the nav desk is gone... And yes, Trevor's disappearance would have effects back home.. for Jim and Dirk, and also Jeol and Lisa (How long will Bridget wait before framing them with the coke?) The sextant was in the nav desk drawer. In the short term, Trevor could navigate: he knew where he was, and can get direction from the stars and sun. But.. one can only get so far by dead reckoning. But, feat not, Trevor has his garlic crusher! CJ

I did say that the chapter title, "Crushed" was appropriate. See? Chapter 48 wasn't a cliffie. I'm hoping that one of our freedivers will weigh in. I researched this extensively, but admittedly, I've never tried it. (and no, I don't intend to ) My operating theory was that only the base of the hand would need to reduce, just slightly, to allow Trevor to pull free. The camps (a very similar method to what Houdini used, btw) plus the blood reloction, I hoped, would be just enough to make the small difference needed. Trevor felt the weight belt drop, so he didn't need to see it. That would tell him which was was down. Also, there's an innate sense of up and down in the water, which you can test easily; in any pool or body of water deep enough, submerge, close your eyes, and spin multiple times. You can still feel which way is up. I've been thrown deep under in turbid water (lots of sand, so I had to keep my eyes shut) while surging many, many times (I wiped out a lot... My skill level was mediocre) and I always knew which way was up, even without light. And Trevor did make himself a potential difficulty in the form of pirates stranded in the area. But, fear not, Trevor did rescue his garlic crusher. Good point on the ascent... what Trevor went through was an ordeal, and he's exuansted. I've had a ruptured eardrum and even just that is enough to make you dizzy and very tired. Trevor is an excellent shot... his best move would be to let them get aboard and ambush them at close quarters (where a pistol is far better and handier than an AK) but it would be one hell of a bit of gunplay; he's got a six-shooter, and six targets. The normal procedure when shooting someone (and they way I always train) is the double-tap: shoot twice in rapid succession, putting two bullets in the target. Suffering? What suffering? Trevor has just had a minor nautical inconvenience... Poor Dirk. LoL Huh? Me? Cruel? When have I ever been cruel? How did I come up with the garlic crusher idea? Easy... I'd been caught in a blackout, and after fumbling around searching I thought I had found a flashlight, but instead it was a power screwdriver. Also, I figured that Trevor had to salvage something from the pirate ship. Also, bear in mind that the garlic crusher is not empty. There is a jar inside. A jar of what? It's in the text of chapter 15. Yes, a mystery! Thank you, Flipper! It doesn't say Atlantis is a write-off, just stripped and badly damaged. That may, or may not, make her a write-off. It's another mystery. The title's promise will be delivered. Of course, Trevor is just about on the opposite side of the planet from Florida, so he could well end up flying home eastbound, which would fulfill the title.

Chapter 50, Crushed, is up. I think you'll find the chapter title appropriate, but not in the way you might expect.

Hrmmm, or.... Let's not forget Bridget's plan; to frame Lisa and Joel for cocaine trafficking once she gets confirmation that Trevor is dead. So, we might end up with: Circumnavigation II: The Prison Decades. You didn't think tortilla chips were his only favorite snack, did you?

Bridget heard Trevor and Joel referring to each other as brothers, so she's making an assumption that it means biological brothers. Yep. That was one of my favorite parts of the story. That meant a lot to Trevor, especially due to his estrangement with his father. Lisa and Joel are now the only people Trevor is close to and trusts. **************** My sincere thanks to all those who certified chapter 48 as cliffhanger-free. Chapter 50 will be posting in 24 hours, and with that, we'll resume our weekly schedule, with 51 coming a week later. So, we're permanently a chapter ahead in posting schedule.