Captain Ahab and the rest
THAR she blows! US marine archaeologists have found the sunken whaling ship belonging to the captain who inspired Herman Melville's classic 19th century novel, Moby Dick.
The remains of the vessel, Two Brothers, was found in shallow waters off Hawaii. Captain George Pollard was the skipper when the ship hit a coral reef and sank in 1823.
His previous ship, Essex, had been rammed by a whale and also sank, providing the narrative for Moby Dick.
The remains of the Two Brothers were found by researchers from America's National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration 965 km north-west of Honolulu in the remote chain of islands and atolls.
The wooden vessel had disintegrated in the warm waters, but the researchers found harpoons, a hook for stripping whales of their blubber and cauldrons used to turn whale blubber into oil.
Days of romance
I'M SURE most of us today welcome the international ban on whaling, which threatened to exterminate these giant sea creatures, with all kinds of adverse knock-on effects on the environment.
Yet you cannot deny the romance and thrill of whaling in its day; the way it inspired literature like Moby Dick.
We had a large whaling station on the Bluff, its fleet skippered and manned by Norwegians, all of them hearty, colourful characters. Many a university student spent his vacation with the whaling fleet in the South Atlantic – a harsh, tough (but well-paid) life.
A few of Durban's old whaling characters are still around. One – a skipper – used to tell the story of a day at sea when he and the mate were having lunch in the wardroom.
Suddenly the engineer – an eccentric character with a terrible stutter – appeared in the doorway, jabbering incoherently.
"Go away, we're having lunch!" said the mate. But the engineer continued so the mate got up and shut him out, closing the door.
Next thing the engineer was back. "Th-th-th-th-the s-s-s-s-s-s …."
"Get out, you fool!" roared the skipper. "Can't you see we're having lunch?"
But then the engineer managed to get it out: "Th-th-th-th-the s-s-s-s-s-stokehold's on fire!"
Lunch adjourned promptly.
Graffiti
AND ON THIS theme of whaling, I recall a piece of graffiti in a gents' in London: "Moby Dick is NOT a venereal disease."
Pack ice time
IT'S NOT THE South Atlantic, yet we scan the horizon for icebergs. A reader who calls himself A Nony Mouse points out that last Friday's Angling Notes said the temperature of the seawater off our coast had at times dropped to -17⁰C.
"Bearing in mind that elsewhere in the world water freezes at 0⁰C, (and seawater slightly lower) I would have expected that we should be seeing some icebergs floating by along our seafront. I don't get down to the beach much these days, but I'm sure somebody would have noticed.
"I did not think the much vaunted climate change would hit us quite so soon, but maybe one of these days we might actually see some snow on the Bluff and, as an alternative to ice-hole fishing, we could go skiing instead."
Yes, the vagaries of the weather are indeed perplexing. Up here on the Berea it's a bit like the Congo but down at Vetch's we'll look out for icebergs all the same.
Witches' brew
WHILE tumultuous events in the Arab world hold our attention, a quiet tussle is going on in Romania as well. It's between the government and the sisterhood of witches.
Witchcraft is a big deal in Romania, which was the stomping ground of Count Dracula, aka Vlad the Impaler.
No, witchcraft hasn't been banned. But parliament is discussing legislation to regulate it. Witches would need a permit. They could be judged on the accuracy of their predictions and disappointed customers could sue. Worst, they would have to pay income tax.
Hissing with fury, the witches have already cast spells on the president and the government. So if President Traian Basescu gets out of bed tomorrow in the form of a bullfrog, and his prime minister is suddenly a stoat – remember where you read it first!
Tailpiece
She: "When we're married I'll share your worries and troubles and lighten your burden."
He: "I've got no worries and troubles. I've got no burden."
She: "We're not married yet."
Last word
Ask yourself whether you are happy and you cease to be so.
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