Vado per mare

But on the eighth morning, everything changed. The wind became wild. The captain ordered all the men to work. He shouted, “Lower the masts! Tie everything down! Get ready for a storm!” The sailors jumped to obey. They knew it was serious.

At noon the waves were like mountains. Our ship went up and down, up and down. The water crashed onto the deck. Once, then twice, we thought that our anchor had broken loose. The captain ordered us to drop another anchor. Now we had two anchors holding us.

Then the real storm came. I have no words for how terrible it was. Even the old sailors were afraid. I saw the fear in their eyes. The captain often walked past my cabin. I heard him whisper, “Lord, have mercy on us!” He kept whispering, “We are all lost!”

“We are all dead men!” When the captain said those words, my courage died. This man had sailed for thirty years. If he was afraid, we were doomed. I stayed in my cabin. I was frozen with fear.

I couldn't move. I couldn't think. I had laughed at the first storm. I had drunk punch and forgotten my promises to God. Now God was really angry. This storm was going to kill us all. There was no escape this time.

In the end I forced myself to go up on deck. What I saw there still gives me nightmares. The sea was black and white with foam. Waves as tall as churches crashed down on us. The wind screamed like a thousand demons. I held on tight or I would have been swept away.

I looked around. Two ships near us had cut down their masts. Another ship about a mile away was sinking. I saw it disappear under the waves. All those men were drowning in the cold, black water. Two more ships had broken free from their anchors.