Std.

XI
Hornbill

We’re Not Afraid to Die…If we can All be Together

- By Gordon Cook and Alan East

Central Idea
The story We’re Not Afraid to Die speaks about the adventures of a family which is
out on a voyage. This story is an encounter described by the author which he
experienced while taking the voyage. You will witness a stream of unfortunate events
that lead to a disaster for this family living its dream of sailing. The story brings
many emotions which helps you to understand the importance of bonding in a family
and you will see how each member of the family perseveres to survive this deadly
situation.

Summary:
This short story is about the writer narrating his thrilling journey across the sea
on board his Wavewalker and about how optimism raises one's spirits and helps one
overcome stress and difficulty. The narrative describes on how determination and
strong will power helps us overcome all forms of stressful situations. Optimism helps
to reduce "the direct stress". This can be verified with the instance where the level of
perseverance rose in the author after seeing the caricatures of him and Mary, drawn
by the children. His motive was to travel around the world through sea just like
Captain James Cook, which he wished to complete in three years. He was with his
family, his wife Mary, his daughter Suzanne and his son who was only six years old.

The first phase was about 105,000 kilometres up to the South African seaport
of Cape Town, which passed off very pleasantly. The second part of the journey was
for 150,000 kilometres. This phase was completed in Australia. On 25th December,
the writer's ship was in the southern Indian Ocean, 3500 kilometres to the east of
Cape Town. The family celebrated their new year (1977) on board the ship. Next
came a phase when the ship was caught in the stormy seas. The weather suddenly
became very terrible. The writer thought that their ship would ride over the waves but
were heavily caught amidst the stormy situations at the sea. There was water
everywhere and they found the ship to be sinking. The condition was extremely
helpless and very pathetic. Water was gushing in from everywhere. Debris was
floating across the cabins. The electric pump was also not working as it had short-
circuited. They had to keep pumping and steering all night long. The writer's
daughter's head had swollen and she had a deep injury. However, the bravery of the
strong-willed children is noteworthy in the story.

On January 4, they breathed a sigh of relief after having survived 36 hours of

continuous pumping. However, their relief seemed to be quite short-lived because by
evening that day the sea again witnessed bad weather. This is the turning point of the
story when we see the author consoling the children. It was quite amazing that the
children exclaimed "...we aren't afraid of dying if we can all be together." This led to
the building energy and enthusiasm inside a very extremely fatigued writer. He
decided to heave and fight the sea. Next day saw a very bright morning. He was
welcomed by his children who exclaimed "You are the best daddy in the world." He
rushed to the deck and to his amazement, gazed at the stark outline of Ile Amsterdam.

It seemed to him to be the most beautiful island in the world. They anchored
off shore for the night and then were welcomed by the 28 inhabitants of the island the
next morning. All along, the only thing which filled the writer's mind was the
undeterred courage which his wife Mary showed, his daughter who didn't worry
about her head injury and his son who wasn't afraid of dying.

Notice these expressions in the text. Infer their meaning from the context.

• honing our seafaring skills:

this refers to the efforts made by the author and his wife, to perfect or
sharpen their seafaring skills.
• ominous silence:
the silence here refers to an impending danger.
• Mayday calls:
Mayday calls are radio-telephonic words which signal aircrafts or ships
stuck in a disastrous situation.
• pinpricks in the vast ocean:
this phrase expresses the search for two small islands in the vast ocean.
• a tousled head:
this refers to hair in disarray or the disarranged hair of the author’s son,
Jonathan

Word Meanings
Abated – something unpleasant to become less intense
Aft – near the stern of the ship
Anchored – moor a ship to the sea bottom
Atrocious – bad; of a very poor quality
Auxiliary engine – small secondary engine used to board ships to operate a
windlass in the ship
Bashed – strike hard; hit
Bleak – an area of land lacking vegetation
Boom – pole that controls the angle and shape of the sail
Bulged – swell
Bunk – bed
Canvas – a strong unbleached cloth
Capsizing – be overturned in the water
Caricatures – picture of a person; cartoon
Crest – reach the top of a wave
Debris – rubbish
Deck – a floor of a ship
Deflected - turned aside
Deteriorate – get worse
Dinghies – a small boat for recreation with mast or sail
Donned – put on, wore
Dozed off – went off to sleep
Forestay – a rope to support ship’s foremast
Gales – A very strong wind
Gigantic – huge; of a big size
Hatch – door
Heave to – to raise or lift with effort
Honing – sharpen, improving
Honing our seafaring skills – improving the skills required to travel by sea
Hull – the framework of the vessel
Hurled – throw with a great force
Impending – about to happen
Jib – a triangular staysail set forward the mast in a ship
Keel – steel structure along the base of the ship
Knots – a unit of speed equal to one nautical mile per hour, used
especially of ships, aircraft, or winds
Lashed – to hit with a lot of force
Leisure – free time
Loop – a shape produced that bends round and crosses; bent
Mast – a tall upright structure on a boat or ship
Mayday calls – words used to signal ships stuck in a disastrous situation
through radio
Mooring – the ropes, chains, or anchors by or to which a boat, ship, or
buoy is moored
Offshore – situated at the sea some distance from the shore
Oilskins – heavy cotton cloth waterproofed with oil
Ominous silence – unpleasant or threatening silence
Optimistic – hopeful and confident
Paraffin – colourless flammable oil liquid
Pinpricks – a prick caused by a pin
Pinpricks in the vast ocean – the two small islands in the vast ocean were very tiny
like the prick caused by a pin
Respite – a short period of rest
Rigging – the ropes and wires supporting the structure of the ship
Scrambled – climb; claw one’s way
Seafaring – regularly traveling by sea
Sextant – an instrument with graduated arc of 60 degrees for taking
altitudes and navigation
Shook – past tense of shake (vibrate)
Sloshed – move through liquid with a splashing sound.
Smashed – badly broken
Smashed – shattered or violently broken
Starboard – side of a ship which is on the right side when one is facing
forward
Stark – sharply defined
Stern – the back part of a ship or a boat
Taut – stretched or pulled tightly
Timbers – wood board used in building of a ship
Torrent – a fast moving stream of water
Tousled head – disarranged hair of the narrator’s son, Jonathan
Wooden-hulled – a watertight body of a ship
Wrenched – pull suddenly, removed

**************************