A Book About the Sky (an excerpt)

Ulysses to Persephone, Journal Entry, 15 September

Dearest Persy,

We've brought the vessel in for minor repairs.   It's still raining here in Corsica.  We've once again lost a second mate (sent on a shore errand and never to return) and it's difficult at best to find any reliable help here. It is in my best estimation the Southern Mediterranean influence; it inures a certain contentment that dulls the senses and indeed I feel the laconic island air dulling my senses as well as the keen spirit of the men.  I at times and increasingly more often feel the onset of torpor here and it's only with vigilance to our bound duties that we press on.

And so, with some good fortune bestowed by favor of the Gods and the enlistment of some fine crafts and tradesmen here we will at first light set sail for the Southern Ocean.  Despite the season we do expect rough passage and I harbor some concern if the traverse timbers at the keel are up to the task.  We are applying pitch and rosin at all joints we have found weak but it's the stresses below waterline that give me some pause.   Tomorrow we attempt a trial of the sails and timbers and if all goes well we will reach Porto Vecchio by nightfall.  After that and upon taking on much needed supplies and six more men commissioned to me in an agreement with the local Consulate we will tack westward through the Strait.   I find it helpful to focus only on the known and not the unknown.  There are others surely more experienced and braver than I; and I have benefited from the accounts of a few sailors that have successfully passed the Cape Verdes and returned to recount their travels.  They are few indeed, and from my encounters, those that are eager to talk have almost certainly never made the journey; I have found it a far better measure of the worth of their advice by their reluctance to discuss the trip at all. It is to be expected given the privations, and loss of men, and constant punishment from wind and swell that are the hallmark of the southern latitudes. 

Still, do not darken your spirits or your thoughts with such troubles; we are an able-bodied and skilled crew. As our vessel will soon be sound and we have only now left to put our faith in the parchment maps we have assembled, and the winds and each other, I bid you my deepest and warmest blessings and trust that you find comfort in our thoughts of each other.

Ulysses