Day 465 - September 23 - Adrift with Captain Bligh

Everybody knows the story of the mutiny on the Bounty - Captain Bligh's tyrannical command forces Master's Mate Fletcher Christian to rebel and take the ship, sailing off to Tahiti and casting the loyal few adrift. Setting aside for a moment the questionable parts of the story (Bligh wasn't the tyrant Hollywood has painted him to be - big surprise), there's an incredible part of that story that is often overlooked. Like is often the case, truth is more amazing than fiction...

After the mutiny, Christian put Bligh and 18 of the loyal crew into a small boat called a launch. The launch was 23 feet long, and loaded with a few days' worth of food and water. Bligh (did you know he was really only a Lieutenant? His was only an acting command; he was rated Master and Commander at the time, and "Captain" was only his courtesy title) was given a sextant and a watch, but no maps or charts. The boat was so fully loaded that the gunwales were just inches above water when the Bounty sailed away and left them to their fate. The incredible part of the story is what happened next. Bligh took the demoralized remains of his crew (men who had just lost their ship and been left to die on the far side of the world; who had very little food or water; and who had no real purpose any longer, their ship and livelihood having been taken from them) and set out to survive. After losing one man to attacking natives when he landed on an island to try to obtain more food, Bligh decided it was too dangerous to risk land. So, armed with his sextant and pocket watch, he decided that the only safe place they could go was the nearest European outpost, and after 47 days, he and his remaining men arrived safely on the island of Timor, a journey of just over 3600 miles! Bligh had taken an open boat and 17 starving men on a daring voyage across half the Pacific ocean, and he did it successfully. Wow.

Now, I've been putting myself into the position of one of Bligh's crew on that voyage. Can you imagine what it would be like to be sitting in that open boat? The tropical sun is beating down on your back. There's not enough food, not enough water. There's no map. You don't know where you are, you don't know where you're going. You don't even know if you're really going anywhere. You're just an able seaman - you aren't educated, you aren't in charge, and all you've got is a commander who also doesn't have a map. If I remember correctly, sitting in a rowboat puts the horizon roughly three or four miles away; so not only are you stuck in the middle of the biggest body of water on the planet in a rowboat, but you also can't see anything unless you stumble directly into it.

Now, your commander decides that it's time to set sail and take off on a 3600-mile journey, through shark-infested waters and past cannibal-ridden islands, with little food and water. And how's he going to get you there? "Oh, don't worry - I've got a sextant and a watch," says he; "I know just where we're going!" If somebody tried to pull that one on me, I'd say "sorry mate - I'l try my luck on that island over there. I don't want to go on the long, desperate sea-voyage, thank you very much". Wouldn't you?

You know what the Captain would say? "Hey, sonny - you're in the Navy, bub. So grab that oar and start rowing!" That's what he'd say. And then you'd have a choice - do you sit in the bottom of the boat and whine about how you don't want to go on the journey, and make the rest of the crew do your work for you while you eat up precious resources? Or do you throw your back into the work of getting your part of the task done well so you can get to the destination in one piece and as soon as possible?

I guess it depends on a few things. First, do you trust your Captain? Do you believe he knows what he's doing, even when it looks like all he's got is a sextant, a watch, and a guess or two? Second, what's your attitude? Do you think you've been cast adrift, left to float until the boat capsizes, or do you think that being in this tiny boat in the middle of the ocean means you've got a new purpose and destination?

Now, I don't think the records say anything about it, but I bet that there were some men in Captain Bligh's boat who helped him get that monumental task done. I bet there were crew members who encouraged, cajoled, and helped other guys tough it out in that boat. I bet there was at least one guy with him in that nightmare who Bligh felt he couldn't have done it without.

And I bet that guy, at least once on that hellish voyage, thought to himself "We are so lost. We're never gonna get there. We're all gonna die". Then he took a look at his Captain, squared his shoulders, took a deep breath, and got back to work. No idea where he was going. No idea when they would get there. But ready to die trying to make the Captain's plan work.

So I guess the question is - do I trust my Captain?

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