A Stormy Day Off Sri Lanka
The life of a seaman requires an acknowledgment of the power of nature.
The idea of seeing a blue whale in the sea has always appealed to me, and on the beautiful island of Sri Lanka, which I visited many times, I could have taken the opportunity to do so. However, Sri Lanka juts out unprotected into the vast Indian Ocean, and when the incredible power of nature is unleashed, such as during the southwest monsoon, the wisdom of hanging around in the coastal waters a second more than necessary is questionable.
We sat in the darkness of the villa drinking coffee in the early hours of the morning and listening to the wind and the rain outside. Our colleagues were still in their bedrooms, but my team had a task and would be—hopefully—joining a ship in a few hours. The darkness was due to the fact that the sun had yet to rise and because the storm outside had cut off the electricity to the villa for the second or third time in 24 hours.
The in-country manager had already warned us that the weather would be atrocious and had taken the very unusual step of saying that if we deemed the boarding too risky, we could, of course, decline to get on the pilot boat. We were a three-man team: myself, my friend Lee, and an older gentleman.
The phone rang in the living room and the agent told us that he would be there in twenty minutes—we…
