Day 548 - The Doldrums of the South Atlantic
Transatlantic Voyage - Day 9
Transatlantic Vagabond-Adventure Day 9 of 21.
We are now in the Intertropical Convergence Zone, better known to seafarers as the doldrums or the calms. The wind has stopped, it’s hot and the ocean is dead quiet.
As we approach the equator, the northeast and southeast trade winds converge at the near-equatorial trough and that creates all of the trouble.
The doldrums were a serious concern for sailors until the end of the 19th century because, in these waters, sailing ships (especially the slower ones) could be caught for days or even weeks in torrential rains, thunderous squalls, wild seas or flat calm. All of this could demoralize a crew and that could make them feel powerless and frustrated. (This the likely source of the Equatorial Crossing Ceremony which you will learn about soon.)
This place and time was also called the “Noir”—the French word for black— partly because of the black cumulus clouds that tended to crowd along the horizon, and partly because, at this point in the journey, slaves were often dying at a furious rate as they crossed from Africa to slave markets in the western hemisphere - a sad, abominable time in human history. The extreme heat and crowding, lack of air and proper food and water in the decks below, meant death. And so these purchased people were tossed overboard by the ship’s crew as so much useless cargo.
How is it that we can do such horrible things to one another?
