Halloween at Sea.
47º 9’ S 126º 43’ W A location given by H.P. Lovecraft 49º 51’ S 128º 34’ W The position where his contemporary writer and publisher August Derleth allocated it.
Dreadfully close to our path towards Cape Horn. Scarily close to our location on this Halloween date.
Here lies the fictional R’lyeh.
The nightmare corpse-city of R’lyeh… was built in measureless eons behind history by the vast, loathsome shapes that seeped down from the dark stars. There lay great Cthulhu and his hordes, hidden in green slimy vaults
H.P. Lovecraft. “The Call of Cthulhu” 1928
Enigmatic and sinister city, a great sunken metropolis beyond human comprehension. An outlandish outpost deep into the abyss of the Pacific Ocean. But it doesn’t always remain underwater. When stars align in particular arrangements, R’lyeh rises from the deep ocean floor. On those seldom occasions, the ghostlike city breaks the surface of the remotest place in the seas and the oceanic swell crashes against its ominous coastlines.
Today, better to keep a sharp lookout although no land is reported on the conventional charts within a 2700 kilometre radius from where we sail. But hey, it is Halloween after all.
Then, when R’lyeh surfaces, Cthulhu awakes. A mythical figure, a primordial alien entity. A giant monster. The idea of existential terror. The representation of the human perception of cosmic horror. The realisation of the insignificance that human existence represents in the infinite cosmos, in a universe unconcerned with our lives, achievements and morals, beyond any idea of control.
Unquestionably, the most appropriate location for a ship and her crew to sail during such a special date. Halloween.
A date embedded in old-fashioned beliefs, in superstition, of which traditional sailors are bursting with. They are amongst the most superstitious people in history, making those beliefs a matching fit for this day.
Superstitions gave sailors a sense of power - a sense that they weren’t completely at the mercy of providence, and that there were things they could do (or not do) to exert some influence over the situations their captains sailed into.”
Jonathan Eyers. “Don’t Shoot the Albatross! Nautical Myths & Superstitions”
It is often that classic sailor costumes, traditional white or navy-blue sailor suits, striped shirts and flat sailor hats, are seen all around during the 31st of October. There is no shortage, too, of Skeleton Pirate crews, eerie stories of ghost ships or disturbing tales about cursed vessels doomed to sail the oceans forever.
The mix of maritime lore, folklore and spooky tradition doesn’t miss the enchanting mermaids driving ships to crash against rocks; the Celtic and Scottish Kelpies and Each-Uisge, shape-shifting water spirits and demonic horses that lure travellers into deep lochs and seas. And giant behemoths like the Kraken and other restless deep-sea spirits and monsters waiting to drag ships into the oceanic depths.
Instead, luckily the journey develops into better weather and good sailing. Sails are set, rig trimmed. Just a swap of the old Main Lower Topsail for a brand new one. Not much more sail handling needed. Time for celebrating Halloween aboard. As the day goes on, the thin veil between worlds, the boundary between the living and the dead, the myth, the legend and the reality blurs. More and more people show up in disguise. Fairies, spirits, personality swaps, and whatever else you can imagine, now roam the ship.
With them, Zeus and Poseidon, the rulers of the sky, storms and the oceans, bring the sun, the waters are calmer too and a wind that backs to westerly first, then even more, blowing in the afternoon from the southwest at a good 30kn, easing down to half of it by the evening.
While Halloween day reaches its end, we are leaving behind Cthulhu’s home in the depths of the ocean. The Europa has sailed 174 nautical miles today on an East and Southeast course, which has brought her to 1887 nm from Cape Horn. At her back lies Auckland at a distance of 3088nm.