We’re Not Afraid to Die Summary
Table of Contents
In this post, I am sharing We’re Not Afraid to Die Summary Class 11 English Hornbill with Important Value Points. This is beneficial for those who are going to appear at exam 2023-24.
Summary of Chapter 2 We’re Not Afraid to Die – Class 11th Hornbill
The summary of “We Are Not Afraid to Die” talks about the incredible bravery and skills of Gordon Cook. The story is about Gordon Cook’s family and their crew members facing a tough battle with the sea and its waves to survive.
In July 1976, the writer, his wife Mary, their son Jonathan, and daughter Suzanne embarked on a journey from Plymouth, England, to recreate the round-the-world voyage taken by Captain James Cook 200 years ago. They did this on their specially designed ship, called the Wave walker, along with two sailors, Larry Vigil from America and Herb Sailor from Switzerland. Their challenge was to navigate one of the roughest oceans in the world, the Southern Indian Ocean.
We’re Not Afraid to Die Summary
The first part of the trip, which covered about 105,000 kilometers up to Cape Town, was quite enjoyable. However, on the second day after leaving Cape Town, they began to face powerful windstorms. The narrator wasn’t too concerned about the wind, but the waves were a big worry because they reached as high as fifteen meters, which is as tall as the mainmast of the ship.
On December 25th, the writer’s ship entered the southern Indian Ocean, which was about 3,500 kilometers to the east of Cape Town. The family celebrated the New Year on the ship.
On the morning of January 2nd, the waves became really big. The bad weather and huge waves made the sailors slow down the ship, lower a certain sail called the storm jib, and take other safety measures. The danger was clear, so the sailors did a practice drill with lifeboats, lifelines, and life jackets.
Unexpectedly, at 6 pm, there was a huge explosion that shook the Wavewalker, and the writer got thrown into the water. The ship was almost tipping over, but another enormous wave hit it, making it upright again. The writer was thrown back onto the deck, and his head and ribs hit the walls of the ship hard. Even though he was hurt, he took control of the situation and decided to handle it by himself. Larry and Herb started pumping the water out of the ship to save it.
The writer did something smart – they used canvas to block the holes and keep the water out of the ship. But things got worse because their hand pumps stopped working, and the electric pumps broke down too. Fortunately, the writer discovered a spare electric pump that still worked.
Throughout the entire night, everyone was busy pumping water out of the ship, steering it, fixing things, and sending out radio signals for help. The writer looked at the maps and realized that He Amsterdam, a French scientific base, was their last chance for help.
Sue and Jon got seriously hurt, but they weren’t scared of dying as long as they were all together. Sue’s head swelled up, and she had a deep wound. This made the writer even more determined to see how brave his children were.
Finally, they reached He Amsterdam, a volcanic island where 28 people lived, and they were all set to help them.
We’re Not Afraid to Die Summary
Conclusion of We’re Not Afraid to Die… if We Can All Be Together
In short, in the summary of “We Are Not Afraid to Die,” we can say that the strength of working together and the sailors’ unwavering belief in themselves helped them survive and escape from a very dangerous situation.
“WE’RE NOT AFRAID TO DIE… IF WE CAN ALL BE TOGETHER” SUMMARY IN POINTS
Dream Came True
A 37 year old businessman and his family had dreamt of sailing in the wake of the famous explorer Captain James Cook and for the past sixteen years, the members of the family had spent all their leisure time honing their seafaring skills in British waters. The narrator, his wife Mary, son Jonathan 6, daughter Suzanne (Sue) 7, set sail from Plymouth, England to duplicate a round the-world voyage, earlier made by Captain James Cook.
First Leg Covered
The first leg of 1 ,05,000 kms spanning over three years, passed pleasantly from the west coast of Africa to Cape Town. They took two crewmen, American Larry Vigil and Swiss Herb Seigler to tackle the roughest sea, the Southern Indian Ocean.
Change in Weather
On the second day out of Cape Town, they faced strong gales and the waves began to rise high. Their size which was up to 15 metres, alarmed them. They were at East of Cape Town on Dec. 25, 3500 kms. away. Despite bad weather, they celebrated Christmas. New Year’s Day saw no improvement in weather and it changed from bad to worse.
Got Prepared for the Disaster
At the dawn on January 2, the waves were quite huge. As their ship rose to the top of each wave, they could see endless enormous seas rolling towards them. They dropped the storm jib to slow the boat down. Then, they double-lashed everything and went through their life raft drill, put on oil-skins and life jackets and waited for the worst.
The Worst Came
The first indication of the coming disaster came at about 6:00 pm. The wind dropped and the sky got dark. A huge wave like a cloud came over the ship. The roar became a thunder as it struck the ship. The deck shook. A torrent of sea water broke over the ship. The narrator’s head got smashed onto the wheel. He accepted the approaching death and started losing consciousness.
Sailors’ Struggle
The narrator’s head rose out of the water. He saw Wavewalker capsizing. Then, a huge wave turned her upright. The narrator caught the guard rails. Waves tossed him. His ribs cracked and his mouth was full with blood and broken teeth. The water was everywhere. But, he did not leave the wheel to investigate.
Fear of Sinking
Suddenly, the front hatch was thrown open and Mary appeared. She cried as they were drowning. Larry and Herb were pumping like mad men. The broken things lay scattered here and there. The narrator swam to the children’s cabin and asked if they were all right. They replied positively, though Sue had a bump above her eyes. The narrator took a hammer, screws and canvas. They put canvas over the gaping holes due to which some water was deflected. The debris had started to block the hand pumps. The electric pump had stopped working. The narrator worked with the help of another hand pump. They were not getting any replies to their May Day calls.
Search for an Island
On January 3, the water level had come under control. The boat’s main rib frames had nearly broken down. They had survived for 15 hours since the waves hit. The narrator checked the charts and found that there were two small islands, a few hundred kms. to the east. The boat wouldn’t take them to Australia in that broken condition. One island was Ile Amsterdam. On January 4, after 36 hours of continuous pumping they had drained out the water. Now, they were heading for Ile Amsterdam island. They ate their first meal in almost two days with corned beef and cracker biscuits. But their respite was short lived. At 4:00 pm, black clouds began building up behind them. Within the hour the wind was back to 40 knots and the seas were getting higher. The weather continued to deteriorate throughout the night and by dawn on January 5, their situation was again desperate.
Hoping for Relief
The narrator went in to comfort the children. John asked if they were dying. He assured them that they would make out. But John added that they were not afraid of dying if they could be all together. The narrator took every care to protect the undamaged part of the hull with heavy nylon rope and plastic barrels of paraffin.
Wave walker riding out the storm
Wave walker rode out of the storm b y morning of January 6. The narrator tried to get a reading on the sextant. He found that they were looking for a 65 km wide island. When he was thinking, Sue came to him with a card she had made which had caricatures of the narrator and made him laugh. She had written message inside. It was : ‘How I love you both’.
A Ray of Hope
The narrator checked and rechecked the calculations. They had lost their main compass. He had been using the spare one. At about 2:00 pm, he went on the deck and asked Larry to steer a course of 185 degrees. He expected to see the island at about 5:00 pm. Then he went below with a heavy heart and dozed off till 6:00 pm.
Narrator Cheered up by Children
The narrator woke up. Jonathan came and asked if he could have a hug. He asked the reason and Jonathan added that he was the best daddy and the best captain in the whole world. Sue added that he was as he had found the island. It was in front of them.
Achieved the Goal ‘Ile Amsterdam’
He rushed on the deck and looked at the outline of ‘Ile Amsterdam’. It was only a bleak piece of volcanic rock with little vegetation. It was the most beautiful island in the world. All the 28 inhabitants of the island welcomed and cheered them as they landed on the shore.
Narrator Thinking About Crewmen
With the land under his feet again, the narrator thought of his crewmen Harry and Herbic who were optimistic under the stress and fought with the odds successfully. He also thought of Mary who fought with courage and did not lose hope. He also thought of Sue with a head injury and Jonathan who was not afraid to die.
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