The ship came to a complete
stop about 160 miles south-east of Ascension Island. Until
then the depth of the sea was around 2000 metres, but we
came to the summit of the undersea mountain chain at somewhere
called Grattan Seamount and suddenly there were only 70
metres of water below us. The hope was that the upwelling
of cold water would bring sea life close to the surface
and draw in whales, sea birds etc. Unfortunately, the theory
didn't work, so we set sail again. In anticipation of the
big event, we were all invited to the top deck, where it
was unspeakably hot, but we were served iced chocolate drinks
to help keep us cool. One of the zodiacs had been filled
with water for people to cool off in, but it was immediately
filled to overflowing by four large ladies who weren't budging
and there wasn't an inch to spare for anybody else, not
that I would have got in anyway! |
