From Robinson Crusoe

Chapter 5 Boarding the Ship
Time flies, and as the sun moves from the direct sky to the west, the heat on the isolated island not only does not dissipate, but becomes even more intense.

The trees near the shore drooped their heads in the sunlight.

The slightly wilted branches and leaves cast a green shade, shading the reader below.

Chen Zhou sat cross-legged beside the tree trunk, slowly closed the book, and looked up at the sea.

The sky is cloudless and clear blue.

The sea was very calm and the tide receded gently, revealing the wet sand and rocks hidden under the water.

The bright sunshine splashes on the beach, turning into a dazzling golden color.

One kilometer away, where the beach transitions into shallow water, the sailboat representing the future and hope has run aground on the hard sand shore.

The hot air distorted the vague outline of the ship, but the towering mainmast and the stern tower could be vaguely distinguished.

The canvas swayed gently in the breeze, as if waving to someone in the distance.

The entire sailboat was in a posture with its head down and its feet high, with the stern tilted high towards the coast, the bottom of the ship sunken, and part of the bottom cabin submerged in sea water.

The distance was too far to make out the details of the ship, but Chen Zhou, who had read the original novel, knew that although the ship was stranded, there was no foothold around the hull, only sea water. The only way to board the ship was a rope hanging from the anchor chain at the bow.

In Defoe's writing, Robinson Crusoe didn't know where the rope came from when he found it. After recovering from a serious illness and escaping death, he converted to God's embrace and naturally interpreted all this as the salvation of God and the guidance of fate.

Chen Zhou, who had thought about the events before and after the shipwreck many times, knew the origin of the rope.

As described in the book, Robinson worked as a plantation owner in Brazil for a while and lived a peaceful life. Finally, he could no longer suppress his restless heart and, driven by interests and hobbies, embarked on a journey to Africa to trade slaves.

Not long after the slave ship set out, a fierce storm suddenly hit, and the ship was swept off course by the hurricane.

Supplies were running out, the cabin was flooded, and the entire ship was in a precarious situation.

The shadow of the shipwreck hung over everyone's mind.

The small boat placed at the stern of the ship was blown into the sea by the wind a few days ago, and only a small sampan was left on the ship.

Driven by extreme panic, everyone on the boat decided to abandon ship and escape, seeking a glimmer of hope for survival in the raging waves.

The captain and the first mate directed the sailors to work together to lower the small dinghy into the water using cargo ropes in an attempt to fight against the raging ocean.

However, the sea did not show mercy to them in the end. Both the captain and the sailors were buried in the sea. Naturally, no one retrieved the noose, leaving this life-saving straw for Robinson.

In the original book, Robinson Crusoe swam around the boat twice before discovering the noose. Chen Zhou obtained this information from the book in advance and knew that swimming straight to the bow would save energy and time, which was a great advantage.

Seeing that the tide had almost receded, Chen Zhou put away his book, took off his short-sleeved trousers, tied them together with Robinson's clothes to a conspicuous tree, did a set of stretching exercises beforehand to avoid leg cramps while swimming, and then stood up and walked towards the sea.

The beach was warm after being exposed to the sun for a whole morning, and my toes felt slightly hot when they sunk into it.

Going further, the wet sand soaked in sea water did not feel so comfortable to the touch. The rough and solid gravel was sticky, scrambling to squeeze into the gaps between the toes. Coupled with the countless shell and clam fragments lurking underwater that hurt his feet, every step Chen Zhou took felt uncomfortable.

Fortunately, the water here is shallow and clear, and you can see the bottom at a glance. There is no need to worry about poisonous creatures such as sea snakes and jellyfish lurking underwater.

Wading through the water, Chen Zhou moved forward cautiously.

The sea water is getting deeper and deeper. At first it only covers the feet, then gradually wraps the calves, and now it has not reached the waist.

The endless waves reflected the sunlight and rippled in Chen Zhou's eyes. The buoyancy of the sea water kept shaking his legs, making him slightly dazed.

If I wanted to move forward, walking was too difficult and I had to swim.

Taking advantage of the shallow water, Chen Zhou tried to splash around in the sea twice.

It turns out that swimming, like riding a bicycle, is a skill that once learned is ingrained in your bones and is difficult to forget.

When his body was immersed in the sea water, Chen Zhou's heart rate rose rapidly.

Facing the deep ocean, he still felt distrust deep in his heart, and instinctively wanted to stretch his legs and use the solid fulcrum under his feet to dispel his fear.

But the subtropical and warm water temperature encouraged him, and an ubiquitous and unexpected buoyancy lifted his body and prevented him from sinking.

This feeling was far more comfortable than swimming in the cool river in the countryside. Chen Zhou paddled in the water and gradually regained his lost courage.

The waves swayed gently, rising and falling with sapphire-like ripples. Looking around, the sky and water were one color, which made Chen Zhou's tense nerves relax. The light from the scorching sun above his head seemed to become less hot.

The pounding heart immediately returned to its normal rhythm.

Chen Zhou stretched his body, following his muscle memory, alternating his arms and squeezing his legs, drawing a crooked wave on the sea.

Although he hadn't swum for more than two years, those things that were engraved in his instincts had never been forgotten. With the feedback brought by the resistance of the sea water, Chen Zhou became more and more skilled and swam towards the merchant ship in a clumsy but firm posture.

He knew that he would soon be out of the shallow water, and by then he would have no foothold, so he inevitably felt a little uneasy.

But soon, another embarrassing incident overshadowed his anxiety.

As Chen Zhou swam forward, the pervasive sea water poured into his not-so-tight underwear through the gaps, and quickly gathered into a large ball of water at his buttocks, pulling his underwear backwards.

This sudden accident quickly stripped off the last piece of clothing on Chen Zhou, forcing him to become a true "naked swimming enthusiast."

With every inch of his skin exposed, a strange feeling of being at a loss came over him. Chen Zhou really wanted to grab the underwear of "Unruly and Free-Loving", but he was worried that it would affect his breathing rhythm, so he had to bite the bullet and continue swimming forward.

The distance of just over 400 meters was gradually shortened in the blink of an eye. This wooden sailing ship built in the late Middle Ages slowly enlarged in Chen Zhou's sight and became clearer and clearer.

Before it got close, the breeze brought the smell of corruption on the boat to Chen Zhou.

The smell was a mixture of the fiber smell of wood left under the sun, mildew, moisture, fishy odor, and the smell of a rotting corpse. It poured into Chen Zhou's nostrils without a care in the world, irritating him to the point of almost shedding two lines of tears.

Just as the impression of first love in most men's minds is always hazy and perfect, Chen Zhou has always had beautiful fantasies about this sailboat since he first read "Robinson Crusoe" in elementary school.

After all, in the original book, this ship provided more than 90 percent of the help for Robinson's survival on the deserted island for 28 years, just like Noah's Ark in the Bible, saving the life of Robinson, the lost lamb.

Moreover, in the few passages in which Defoe describes ships and life at sea, he never mentions its shortcomings.

Everyone who has read "Robinson Crusoe" will inevitably regard this ship as "as beautiful as first love" in their ignited dreams of sailing and longing for adventure.

But it is an old wooden sailing ship after all, and the construction technology and materials used all highlight the style and defects of the late 17th century.

The core of the ship is supported by a wooden keel, and thirty-six pairs of ribs form a 28-meter-long hull. Under the deck, which is less than 6 meters wide, thousands of angle irons are used to reinforce the fulcrums, and there are also rivets in the structure. From the side to the bottom of the ship, the outer hull is bonded with tar and asphalt, and the lining between the wooden boards and the cabin is filled with hemp fiber and tarred canvas.

The surface of the hull below the waterline is also covered with a thin layer of lead plate to protect against shipworms and marine wood-eating organisms that harm the hull in tropical oceans.

The primitive and backward waterproofing methods turned the bottom cabin of the sailboat into a damp, stuffy and airtight steamer.

The cargo hold and the ballast that maintains the balance of the hull occupy most of the space in the ship. Ordinary crew members can only squeeze into the large bunk bed under the bow deck and live in cramped rooms separated by wooden boards or curtains.

There was no indoor toilet on the ship. Some people defecated at the bow, some at the stern, and some used wooden buckets or directly in the cabin. Together with the sewage that slowly seeped into the cabin from the deck, a "feast" filled with the smell of feces was brewing.

The harsh and humid environment also creates a breeding ground for germs.

Fever, dysentery, headaches, skin lumps, scurvy, mouth ulcers and even cancer, these dreaded diseases often visited sailors.

Thousands of rats, as well as even greater numbers of cockroaches, centipedes, lice and fleas, even mold and mushrooms, spread rampantly on this free flight, traveling across the ocean to the New World.

The dark bottom cabin is their shelter, and even if the crew fumigates the lower deck to kill insects when resting in port, it is of no avail.

As long as the environment remains unchanged, they cannot be completely eliminated.

In the early days of the slave trade, the shadow of death always hung over the sailors' heads.

Surrounded by the endless ocean, with poor sanitary conditions and horrifyingly primitive medical care, their mortality rate was no lower than that of the "dark cargo".

But for the dream of getting rich, for the new world full of gold, milk and honey, and opportunities, there is always an endless stream of people who take risks.

The sailors had long been forced to accept the harsh environment and jokingly called the stench in the bottom cabin "the breath of hell" or "the smell of the devil."

Compared with this, Chen Zhou should perhaps feel lucky.

After all, he had only had a superficial glimpse of the "charm" of the ship's exterior, but he was not yet ready to live on the ship for years, endure the baptism of wind and waves, and face the capriciousness of the ocean.

Enduring the pungent smell, Chen Zhou slapped the water, tried to raise his head and look upward, and soon found the hanging cargo rope near the bow.

The top of the noose is tied to a strong anchor chain, and the end is about half a meter above the water surface.

The rope is woven from four hemp ropes, as thick as a small wrist, with a shiny black surface and a faint salty smell.

Finally seeing the noose, Chen Zhou felt relieved.

Before this, he was always worried that the details of the challenge might deviate from the original work.

After all, this is the real world, and accidents are bound to happen.

A sudden gust of wind, a few active seabirds, a dilapidated ship, or a broken anchor chain can cause the position of the noose to change or even disappear.

Such unexpected events could at best change his plans, or at worst cost him his life, so naturally he could not avoid feeling uneasy.

Fortunately, no accident happened.

Chen Zhou stepped on the water, tried to straighten his back, and followed the force of his body floating up to reach out and grab the noose.

This was much simpler than he had imagined, and it was so smooth that Chen Zhou found it a little unbelievable.

After all, according to the description in the original book, Robinson took a lot of effort to grab the noose, which was far from being as easy as he did.

Without thinking too much about the reason, Chen Zhou grabbed the end of the noose with both hands, trying to pull his body out of the water while dangling close to the hull next to him.

Although he had been wasting time in the factory, he was still a young man in his twenties and still had plenty of strength. With just a swing, Chen Zhou found the right moment, kicked his legs, and stepped on the outer wall of the boat.

The ground beneath my feet feels a little slippery, but very solid.

People floating in the water finally had a foothold and support after a long time, and the lost sense of security returned.

I climbed up one section at a time, changing hands. My palms were rubbed so hard by the rough hemp rope.

The bright sun's rays shine on my back, water droplets on my body's surface roll down, and a breeze blows by, but I don't feel any coolness at all.

The climber had no time to care about the temperature. With his head down, Chen Zhou saw a different scenery.

Unlike looking up at the bottom of the ship, now the mottled hull is right under your feet, and the situation on the bow side is clearly visible.

The paint on the horn that looked like a sea snake's head had fallen off, and the snake's upper jaw had disappeared, leaving only half of its jaw, which was carved with sharp teeth and howled blankly;

The decorative patterns painted on the lower side of the ship were washed away by wind and waves and became dim and fragmented. It was almost impossible to distinguish the original pattern. One could only see that yellow and red paint were used.
The side railings on both sides of the deck were also obviously damaged. It is not known whether it was caused by the storm or removed by the sailors to lower the sampan.

On the right side of the tall mainmast, a rope hung from a broken and tilted mast.

A patched sail was spread on the deck, the large anchor rope was wrapped around the winch's drum, and an anchor more than half a person's height hung on the other side of the bow.

The bow of the ship sank low into the sea water, with the highest point about two meters above the water surface, which was much shorter than Chen Zhou had imagined. It didn't take long for him to climb onto the front deck.

Being at the bow of the boat, the stench suddenly became stronger, as if one had come to a dry toilet in a rural area in the hot summer, and Chen Zhou couldn't help but cover his mouth and nose with his hands.

Looking around, he immediately spotted the source of the stench.

It was a seat placed next to the guardrail on the left side of the bow. It protruded from the edge of the hull and hung over the sea. There was an oval hole on the seat, with some suspicious dark brown stains next to it.

Guessing that this was the open-air toilet on the ship, Chen Zhou secretly lamented the backward living conditions at sea at that time, and subconsciously took a few steps towards the foremast.

He was naked now, and his tolerance for filth had been reduced to the limit. He didn't want to get strange things on his body for no reason.

According to the pre-arranged plan, the first thing to do after boarding the ship should be to rescue food and usable seeds in the cargo hold.

Then I looked for paper, pen and ink, and quickly drew the hand-drawn design of the simple raft with mortise and tenon structure by the forum boss while I still remembered it. Finally, I found all the tools and started to make it.

But plans cannot keep up with changes. Chen Zhou did not expect that he would lose his underwear while swimming, and he did not expect that the environment on the boat would be so bad.

Feeling the scorching sun and the rapidly steaming sea water on his body, Chen Zhou felt that the most important thing now was to find some clothes to wear, firstly to protect himself from the sun, and secondly to comfort his discomfort - he did not have a habit of streaking.

At the same time, you need to find a pair of shoes to protect your tender feet. Otherwise, when exploring the cabin later, if you step on splinters or rusty nails, you may be infected with bacteria or get tetanus, which may take your life.

(End of this chapter)