"Just for the Hell of It" : 335 



endurance. The reason for their inclusion in this book, however, is 

 that they tell us a good deal about the character of the ocean. In the 

 first place, they tell us that the North Atlantic, which enjoys the repu- 

 tation of being such an impetuous body of water, can also, during the 

 summer season, be unusually mild and kindly. Further than that, the 

 stories here reveal some details regarding the ocean's structure. 



Botelho, for example, could never have made the passage around 

 Africa had he attempted the trip in the reverse direction. Coming 

 from Asia, he had favorable winds and currents through most of his 

 passage along the East African coast. After he rounded the Cape of 

 Good Hope he again had favorable winds and currents at least as far 

 as the Gulf of Guinea. The slowest part of this trip was then prob- 

 ably the passage through the doldrums, though even here there are 

 seasons when he would have had winds abeam or abaft all the way to 

 the Canaries. 



We may also note that the sensible yachtsman, and even Romer in 

 his rubber boat, almost invariably made successful passage to the west 

 by sailing in the belt of the northeast trades. By comparison, the pas- 

 sage from the northern United States ports to England and France 

 are a little more difficult, but have been negotiated successfully even 

 by men rowing an open boat. The passage from northern European 

 ports to the northern ports in America is the most difficult of all at 

 any season of the year and accounts for the slowest passage and the 

 greatest losses. 



The chapter, as a whole, should do something to dispel the popu- 

 lar belief that is so tenaciously held even today, that safety at sea is 

 largely dependent upon the size of the vessel. Nothing could be farther 

 from the absolute truth. The safety, and even the comfort, of a vessel 

 depend on three things and three things only: careful design, stout 

 construction and judicious seamanship. Over and over again it has 

 been demonstrated that in even the roughest weather a small, prop- 

 erly found ship will outlive a poorly designed, cheaply built or poorly 

 managed ship, even though the large vessel may be hundreds of 

 times the size of the small one. 



The belief seems to persist that a large vessel is necessarily better 

 designed, better built and better operated than a small one; yet any 

 careful examination of the record will show that this is not the case. 

 An examination over the last half century of the record of ocean Hn- 

 ers, as well as coast-size passenger ships, will show that size is not a 

 guarantee against misfortune. Some lines, operating in large vessels, 

 have had a history marked by one disaster after another. There is also 



