Guardian of the Sea

Ever since I was a little boy, I dreamed of pirates and adventures of the seas. I would stare out of my bedroom window into the darkness of the night, imagining being on the ocean with the stars above guiding the ship.

Funny how life always throws you curves. Naturally, being raised in the middle of a cornfield in Nebraska, I could only dream about the oceans and seas. I was expected to work on the family farm and grow up and raise another generation to take over the farm. However, things never quite work as planned. Now, I find myself alone and wondering, what is keeping me here?

After harvest was completed for the year, I sat down with my coffee, watching it snow, thinking, now what? That's the day I decided I have had enough! I'm tired of this so called "Good Life" and I need some adventure!

I did some research and found there were tours all across the oceans, but the one that caught my eye was the Cape Horn tour at the bottom of the world. The tour sounded exciting, getting to see whales, penguins and beautiful glaciers, so I made the call. The guide told me this tour is beautiful but it was also dangerous. Not exactly a trip a country boy on his first cruise should go on. But, hey, you only live once, right?

The seas were suppose to be "calmer" from December through February. So I booked my trip in December, sort of a Christmas present to myself. I could hardly wait!

When the time finally came, I jumped on a plane and flew to Argentina where I met up with my guide. I was so excited, I felt like a kid on Christmas morning.

When the Captain said to grab you gear and get aboard, I couldn't believe what I saw. I was expecting a big cruise ship and here in front of me was this small fishing type thing. There were about 6 other people on tour boarding ahead of me, so, I took a deep breath, grabbed my gear and followed.

Once aboard, the Captain explained what we were going to do and all the safety gear that was available. The sea was calm and the journey begins. The view was amazing as we pulled away from the shore. It wasn't long until we saw a few dolphin and a couple of whales breaching the water. The snow capped mountains along the shore were picture perfect and I was starting to believe that this was what life was meant to be.

After a while, we sailed close to the shore where fur seals were resting and the albatross were flying above. I couldn't imagine a better day but, I am really looking forward to tomorrow when we will be at Cape.

The night was like a dream, falling asleep to the soft waves rocking the ship. I had never felt so alive but peaceful at the same time.

Morning came and we were headed for the Cape. As time went on, the waves started getting stronger. The sun seemed to suddenly disappear and we were being pelted with sleet and rain. The waves were now hitting the boat and water blasted over the railing. Bells were sounding and the crew went scrambling to their appointed posts.

The Captain's voice came over the loudspeaker. "Everyone stay in your rooms. We are headed into heavy weather."

I sat there looking out the little portal window. I could see this gigantic wave headed our way. I sat on my bunk afraid to move, thinking this is it. I'm going to die.

Then the wave hit and I was tossed to the other side of the room. Just as I was trying to stand up, another wave hit from the other side and I flew across and landed back in my bunk. I don't mind telling you, I was getting a little freaked out! Wave after wave hit the ship, tossing it around like a leaf. We would tip one way, then we spun around and dived down like a roller coaster.

The bells went off again, as the waves kept thrashing down. This time the Captain's voice came across the loudspeaker again. "We're taking on water. Everyone....get into your flotation devices."

"Flotation devices? Flotation devices?" I said to myself, desperately trying to remember where they were located. My mind was a mass of disbelief, and at the same time a voice of panic screaming "I'm going to die!"

As soon as we were in our flotation device or "suit", we went to the top deck. The cold rain, waves and wind made it hard to even stand. We were all holding onto the life preservers waiting for the worse. I remember thinking to myself, who's idea was this? Then I laughed at myself for wanting "adventure".

Almost as fast as the storm hit, it was over. The wind and waves died down. All of us on deck took a deep sigh of relief. The clouds separated and the sun was shining once again. We all stood there in shock and started to laugh until we remembered the boat was taking on water. How much time will we have until we met our watery grave?

The minutes seemed to drag for hours. The smaller waves were still pushing us around and slapping across the deck.

Finally, the bells quit ringing and once again the Captain's voice blared over the loudspeaker. "Everything is fine folks. The crew was able to pump out the water and we will be heading to shore for the evening."

A cheer roared up from all of us on board! "We did it! We survived!" We all were glad to stay close to shore for the rest of the day and night.

After a good night's sleep, our little ship headed out once more around the Cape. The Captain said there was no damage to the ship and the weather was suppose to be smooth sailing.

Dolphins greeted us as we sailed away into the deeper waters. Whales were breaching and birds of every kind were flying overhead. The glaciers were sparkling in the sunlight and the water was so clear, it seemed as though you could see the bottom of the ocean.

I was enjoying gazing into the water, trying to see the fish that were swimming close to the boat, but then, what the heck was that?

I saw some kind of creature swimming along side of the boat. Then, I heard a THUMP. Something hit the side of the ship. I called to one of the other tourists. "Hey, come look at this thing!" I shouted.

He came over and looked into the water. His chin dropped and his skin turned pale. "What?" I asked. "What is that thing?"

He just turned and ran to a crewman. Soon, there were a dozen people looking in the water, but whatever we saw was gone now. "Dude," exclaimed the tourist, "that is the guardian of the sea! A colossal squid!"

"A what?" I asked again. As if a guy from Nebraska would know what a colossal squid was!

"It's a colossal squid!" he said again. "That thing could take down ships ten times the size of this one! I never thought I would ever see one! The storm must of made it surface."

"Hmmm, really?" I replied. I gazed out across the water just like I did when I looked out my bedroom window into the darkness when I was a little boy. "Interesting." I said to myself.

The rest of the day was great. The scenery was beautiful. The waves were a little choppy and there were a few icebergs here and there. The penguins were fun to watch. The day was getting on and it was time for evening chow.

We were all seated in the lower deck of the ship when there was a gigantic THUMP! Just like I heard earlier in the day. Then there was this horrific scratching noise, like metal on metal. We all looked at each other wondering what was going on. Then the boat lunged forward. Everything went flying off the tables. The boat tipped sideways, then down. We went flying in every direction. Suddenly, the engine stopped.

We all ran to the deck to see what was going on. Did we hit an iceberg? Are we sinking?

There was that awful screeching noise again. The waves were churning and just then this humongous, pink arm flopped over the rail and onto the deck. It just missed hitting one of the tour members. We all stood in fear. What do you do when you are being attacked by a colossal squid?

Six of the crew members rushed to the creepy tentacle and began jabbing it with spears. This seemed to only make the creature angry. Another arm came flying out of the water and grabbed a crewman. The more he fought the tighter the slimy, gruesome arm squeezed.

We all ran over and began kicking and hitting the squid but it wasn't letting go. The Captain ran over with a hatchet and started hacking at the beast. The limb was as big as a small tree and it took time after time to even make a cut. Finally, he made a deep enough cut, that the squid let go.

The boat continued to rock and spin as the monster flailed its tentacles in the air. We ran to help the crew man. He was passed out on the deck and blood was pouring from cuts of the squid's claw and his face had a big red splotch from the suction cups on the tentacle. One of the men wrapped his shirt around the deep cut and I sat holding him so he wouldn't slide around the deck. He started to come to, but, he was gasping for air.

"We have to get out of here!" exclaimed the Captain, as he quickly ran to the engine room to see why the ship's engine stalled.

Soon the engine started but, we still weren't going anywhere. We could feel the ship pitch and jump forward only to stall again and again. Finally, after a half dozen times, we broke free. Needless to say we turned the boat to the nearest port!

We had another grueling hour of waves and a stalling engine, until we made it to port. I have never been so happy to see land in all my life!

We all packed up and spent the night on land. The crew member that was attacked was checked by the Doctor. He had a few broken ribs, but luckily, he didn't puncture a lung. He was sent to a hospital.

As for the engine, the next morning, we found out that a tentacle was caught in the propeller. It tore off a 30 foot section of the squid! Being at the bottom of the world, it was almost impossible for the ship to be repaired so we all took the next flight back to Argentina.

On the flight, I came to realize that maybe being a farmer in the middle of Nebraska wasn't such a bad thing after all!