Douglas Robertson

And slowly we made our way to the north.

We thought we were headed to the north at about 25, 30 miles a day.

We thought we were making about 30 miles a day.

And the water would last until we got to the doldrums.

Just.

It would just last.

So there was a big gamble on that, of course, because if it didn't rain in the doldrums, then we were stuck.

That would be the end.

So we had lots of fears and certainty and doubt.

We had whales visit us on the raft and swim round us.

They scared the hell out of us, you know.

I bet.

We had sharks.

They weren't as scary as the whales.

We had sharks in constant attendance.

But we did also get visits from turtles.

And I remember telling my dad I'd read in a book somewhere that you could eat turtles.

I didn't tell him it was a, it was a novel written by Alistair McLean called South by Java head.

It was a fictional novel.

You know, I didn't mention that, but I just said, and a bit of fake news, you know, and that we did eventually learn how to kill these turtles.