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"We're Not Afraid to Die Introduction, We are not Afraid to Die Written by Gordan Cook and Alan East, the story is about a 37 year old, businessman who is the narrator of the story. He has a wife named Mary and two children,, Jonathan, aged 6 and Suzanne, aged 7. He and his wife both dream of a voyage around the, world on their ship 'Wave walker' which is a 23 meter long, 30 ton wooden-hulled, just like that of, the famous Captain James Cook., The whole family started sailing from Plymouth, England on July 1976. The initial phase of the, three-year-long journey was from Africa to Cape Town. It was pleasant. While heading east,, along with two newly hired crewmen, strong waves hit them and their survival became a, question. The story tells us about how they fought each day and survived till the end., "We're Not Afraid to Die Lesson Explanation, IN July 1976, my wife Mary, son Jonathan, 6, daughter Suzanne, 7, and I set sail from Plymouth,, England, to duplicate the round-the-world voyage made 200 years earlier by Captain James, Cook. For the longest time, Mary and I- a 37-year-old businessman – had dreamt of sailing in, the wake of the famous explorer, and for the past 16 years, we had spent all our leisure time, honing our seafaring skills in British waters. Our boat Wavewalker, a 23 meter, 30-ton wooden-, hulled beauty, had been professionally built, and we had spent months fitting it out and testing it, in the roughest weather we could find., Voyage, - a long journey by sea or space, Leisure - free time, Honing - sharpen, improving, Seafaring, regularly traveling by sea, Honing our seafaring skills - improving the skills required to travel by sea, Wooden-hulled - a watertight body of a ship, The narrator, 37-year-old businessman, along with his wife Mary and two children - Jonathan, (age 6) and Suzanne (age 7) went on a voyage on their ship in July 1976. They started from, Plymouth, England. They wanted to complete the sea trip around the world just like the one that, had been completed 200 years ago by the famous Captain James Cook. The narrator and his, wife spent 16 years improving their seafaring skills. They got a ship built professionally, a 23, meter long, 30 ton heavy wooden-hulled called 'Wavewalker'. They took several months to test it, in the roughest of weathers., The first leg of our planned three-year, 105,000 kilometre journey passed pleasantly as we sailed, down the west coast of Africa to Cape Town. There, before heading east, we took on two, crewmen – American Larry Vigil and Swiss Herb Seigler, - to help us tackle one of the world's, W Edit with WPS Office

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roughest seas, the southern Indian Ocean., On our second day out of Cape Town, we began to encounter strong gales. For the next few, weeks, they blew continuously. Gales did not worry me; but the size of the waves was alarming, - up to 15 metres, as high as our main mast., Gales - A very strong wind, Mast - a tall upright structure on a boat or ship, The initial phase of the three-year long journey of 105,000 kilometre passed pleasantly. They, sailed down the west coast of Africa to Cape Town. The narrator hired two crewmen before, heading towards the east to tackle the roughest sea- the southern Indian Ocean. Their names, were Larry Vigil, an American and Herb Seigler, a Swiss. On the second day in Cape Town, they, encountered a strong wind which continued for several weeks. A strong wind was not a problem, but 15 metres high waves, which were the height of the mast, worried the narrator., December 25 found us 3,500 kilometres east of Cape Town. Despite atrocious weather, we had, a wonderful holiday complete with a Christmas tree. New Year's Day saw no improvement in the, weather, but we reasoned that it had to change soon. And it did change - for the worse., At dawn on January 2, the waves were gigantic. We were sailing with only a small storm jib and, were still making eight knots. As the ship rose to the top of each wave we could see endless, enormous seas rolling towards us, and the screaming of the wind and spray was painful to the, ears. To slow the boat down, we dropped the storm jib and lashed a heavy mooring rope in a, loop across the stern. Then we double-lashed everything, went through our life-raft drill,, attached lifelines, donned oilskins and life jackets - and waited., Atrocious - bad; of a very poor quality, Gigantic - huge; of a big size, Jib - a triangular staysail set forward the mast in a ship, Knots - a unit of speed equal to one nautical mile per hour, used especially of ships, aircraft, or, winds, Enormous - a very large size, Lashed – to hit with a lot of force, Mooring - the ropes, chains, or anchors by or to which a boat, ship, or buoy is moored, Loop, - a shape produced that bends round and crosses; bent, Stern - the back part of a ship or a boat, W Edit with WPS Office

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Donned - put on, wore, Oilskins - heavy cotton cloth waterproofed with oil, On December 25, they had travelled 3,500 kilometres east of Cape Town. They celebrated, Christmas together, despite the bad weather. The weather remained the same till New Year's, Day but they hoped for it to change soon. The weather conditions worsened. On the early, morning of January 2, the waves were very huge. They were sailing with a small storm jib, at a, speed of eight knots. When the ship was sailing with the huge waves, they could see the huge, sea in front of them. The noise of the waves and strong winds was painful for the ears. They, dropped the storm jib to slow down the ship and hit a heavy mooring rope across the back part, of the ship in a loop. They lashed everything with double force. They put on their oilskins and life, jackets, attached lifelines and went through the life raft drills and waited., The first indication of impending disaster came at about 6 p.m., with an ominous silence. The, wind dropped, and the sky immediately grew dark. Then came a growing roar, and an enormous, cloud towered aft of the ship. With horror, I realised that it was not a cloud, but a wave like no, other I had ever seen. It appeared perfectly vertical and almost twice the height of the other, waves, with a frightful breaking crest., Impending - about to happen, Ominous silence - unpleasant or threatening silence, Aft - near the stern of the ship, Frightful – very unpleasant or shocking, Crest - reach the top of a wave, Around 6 pm, an unpleasant silence rolled over, it was an indication of a disaster which was, about to happen. The wind suddenly dropped and the sky was darker with heavy clouds. A huge, cloud was coming towards the stern of the ship but later the narrator realized it was a huge, wave. The wave was perfectly vertical and it was twice the height of the previous waves they, saw withthe top of the wave looking unpleasant due to its height., The roar increased to a thunder as the stern moved up the face of the wave, and for a moment I, thought we might ride over it. But then a tremendous explosion shook the deck. A torrent of, green and white water broke over the ship, my head smashed into the wheel and I was aware of, flying overboard and sinking below the waves. I accepted my approaching death, and as I was, losing consciousness, I felt quite peaceful., Tremendous – very great in amount, Shook - past tense of shake (vibrate), W Edit with WPS Office

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Deck - a floor of a ship, Torrent – a fast moving stream of water, Smashed – shattered or violently broken, The thunder increased and the waved moved the stern up. They thought that it would not do any, damage but a huge explosion vibrated the deck. A strong moving stream of green and white, water broke over the ship. The narrator's head smashed in the wheel of the ship, he flew, overboard and sank below the waves. He accepted that his death was approaching and started, losing consciousness. He felt quite peaceful., Unexpectedly, my head popped out of the water. A few metres away, Wavewalker was near, capsizing, her masts almost horizontal. Then a wave hurled her upright, my lifeline jerked taut, I, grabbed the guard rails and sailed through the air into Wavewalker's main boom. Subsequent, waves tossed me around the deck like a rag doll. My left ribs cracked; my mouth filled with, blood and broken teeth. Somehow, I found the wheel, lined up the stern for the next wave and, hung on., Water, Water, Everywhere. I could feel that the ship had water below, but I dared not abandon, the wheel to investigate. Suddenly, the front hatch was thrown open and Mary appeared. "We're, sinking!" she screamed. "The decks are smashed; we're full of water." "Take the wheel", I, shouted as I scrambled for the hatch., Capsizing - be overturned in the water, Hurled, throw with a great force, Taut - stretched or pulled tightly, Boom - pole that controls the angle and shape of the sail, Scrambled - climb; claw one's way, Hatch - door, The narrator's head popped out of water. The ship was about to overturn but a wave turned her, upright. His lifeline jacket was stretched, he grabbed the guard rails and sailed to the ship's, main pole. The waves tossed him around the deck. He was injured as his left ribs cracked, his, mouth filled with blood and he had a broken tooth. He found the wheel, lined the stern for the, next wave and waited. There was water everywhere. The narrator could feel water below the, ship but he didn't leave the wheel alone. Suddenly, the front door opened and his wife, Mary,, came screaming that they were sinking. She said, 'the decks are smashed; we're full of water'., The narrator handed her the wheel and climbed towards the door., W Edit with WPS Office

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Larry and Herb were pumping like madmen. Broken timbers hung at crazy angles, the whole, starboard side bulged inwards; clothes, crockery, charts, tins and toys sloshed about in deep, water. I half-swam, half-crawled into the children's cabin. "Are you all right?" I asked. "Yes," they, answered from an upper bunk. "But my head hurts a bit," said Sue, pointing to a big bump above, her eyes. I had no time to worry about bumped heads. After finding a hammer, screws and, canvas, I struggled back on deck. With the starboard side bashed open, we were taking water, with each wave that broke over us. If I couldn't make some repairs, we would surely sink., Timbers - wood board used in building of a ship, Starboard - side of a ship which is on the right side when one is facing forward, Bulged -, - swell, Sloshed – move through liquid with a splashing sound., Bashed - strike hard; hit, The crewman Larry and Herb were pumping the water very fast. The timbers of the ship were, broken and were hanging badly. The starboard of the ship had sunk, clothes, crockery, charts,, tins and toys were roaming around in deep water. The narrator swam and crawled to the, children's cabin and asked the children whether they were alright. The children replied 'yes'. Sue,, his daughter complained about a big bump on her head. The narrator didn't pay much attention, to it as his major concern was to save them. The narrator found screws, hammer and canvas,, he went back to the deck. The broken starboard side was letting so much water in, if the, narrator could not fix the problem, they would all sink in the sea., Somehow I managed to stretch canvas and secure waterproof hatch covers across the gaping, holes. Some water continued to stream below, but most of it was now being deflected over the, side., More problems arose when our hand pumps started to block up with the debris floating around, the cabins and the electric pump short-circuited. The water level rose threateningly. Back on, deck I found that our two spare hand pumps had been wrenched overboard -, forestay sail, the jib, the dinghies and the main anchor., along with the, Then I remembered we had another electric pump under the chartroom floor. I connected it to, an out-pipe, and was thankful to find that it worked., Deflected: turned aside, Canvas - a strong unbleached cloth, Debris - rubbish, Wrenched - pull suddenly, removed, W Edit with WPS Office