At Sea

Luxton had hoped to visit Pitcairn Island on this journey (where Fletcher Christian landed the Bounty). Unfortunately the winds did not carry them to that destination. There were 4000 miles to cover before they would next see land. With Voss's expertise the Tilikum survived many a storm and gale at sea. Voss knew when a storm came that the most dangerous thing was to keep the boat moving. Many a ship had gone down by not stopping and dropping anchor and by moving through the high seas. The suction will pull a ship down causing the waves to break over the vessel and smashing it to bits. Voss would stop, drop the sea anchor and "heave to"( meaning to bring the ships head to wind and sea), drop sail and ride the waves. It was possible in this way to also bring on very little water and keep the deck dry.

As the days passed the food began to rot and everything was soon covered in mold. Voss had a strong stomach and was not concerned with what he ate. Luxton on the other hand had a weak stomach and the green mold on everything did not sit well. Oatmeal was inspected flake by flake for the "green". It was white against green and the green was winning 10 to 1. Soon Luxton was only having coffee for breakfast and the weight was soon falling off quite rapidly. Luxton actually thought the mildew and mold quite agreed with Voss. Voss credits his health to the daily glass of seawater he drank. He insists it kept him free of seasick (Luxton on the other hand said Voss was seasick with every storm) and kept him healthy. Soon both were terribly sunburnt and Voss had hands covered in blisters. Even so Voss loved the sea even though he couldn't even swim.

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