If the trade winds were late when they arrived, they arrived in earnest, and lost time, and Spray, sometimes under a hand or two reef, flew for a few days ahead of a storm, with a big white mustache under the bow, to the west and the Marquesas spotted that after forty days at sea, and that I did not stop to visit. I was always busy during those days, but not at the helm, no one, standing or sitting, you may be still at the helm, on a trip around the world. I did better: I was reading my books, to patch up my clothes, or cook, and eat in peace. I had already realized that it was nice to be alone, and so I looked around me in company, sometimes the universe, and sometimes I am in my insignificant, but stay away from the rest of the books were always my friends. Nothing could be easier or more relaxing for my trip in the trade winds.
sailed off the wind one day after another, marking the paper with considerable precision the position of my ship, but this was done more by intuition than by laborious calculations.
For a whole month mantenemmo la stessa rotta, senza neanche la chiesuola della bussola illuminata. Ogni notte vedevo la Croce del Sud al traverso, il sole sorgeva ogni mattina di poppa; ogni sera tramontava di prora. Non mi servivano altre bussole, perché queste due erano esatte. Se dopo molti giorni di navigazione dubitavo del mio punto stimato, lo controllavo leggendo il grande orologio del cielo fatto dal Grande Architetto, e risultava giusto.
Non si può negare che c'era anche il lato comico, in quella strana vita. A volte mi svegliavo col sole che splendeva già in cabina. Udivo l'acqua scorrere di là dalla sottile parete che mi divideva dalle profondità, e dicevo: "Cosa sta succedendo?".
But all was well, was my vessel continued to sail the route in the world like no other ship had ever sailed. The water pouring down its sides told me he was running at its maximum speed. I knew that there was no hand at the helm of a man, I knew that all were comfortable at the bow, and that there was no mutiny.
Joshua Slocum, 1896
