Chapter 146 Five People Surviving on a Deserted Island
After cooking the three-fresh vermicelli, Zhang Ze looked at the time. It would be six o'clock in three minutes. He quickly took down the radio and tuned it to the weather forecast channel.
As a result, there will be an eight-level east wind in Wenshui City tonight, with the possibility of heavy rain. The wind is so strong in the city, not to mention the sea. Such weather is definitely not suitable for going out to sea.
The wind speed from last night's storm was estimated to be around level 10, and the huge waves on the sea could break the fishermen's small wooden boats apart within half an hour.
This is also the reason why six fishermen lost contact last night. Even if Zhang Ze was driving a 15-meter iron boat, he would not sail in such weather.
Since he couldn't go out to sea, he simply stayed at home. It just so happened that his father-in-law and mother-in-law moved to Wenshui City, and he had to take the whole family there tomorrow.
On the other side, at Zhang Zhenghong's home, he was counting money with his wife.
"The total is 576.32 yuan. We still need about 500 yuan to pay back Aze." said Zhang Zhenghong's wife.
The three brothers divided the debt equally. Each of them paid one thousand yuan for the purchase of the boat. In addition, they also had to pay back the two hundred yuan that Zhang Ze had borrowed.
Zhang Zhenghong and his two companions seemed to make a lot of money every time they went out to sea, but after deducting the costs and dividing the profits among each individual, it was actually not that exaggerated.
But I still managed to save more than 500 yuan in a short period of time. According to my current income, I will be able to pay off the debt in a short time.
They are not scoundrels who borrow money and then insist on not paying it back. Otherwise, they will lose their status as relatives and will be criticized by others.
Seeing that there was still about half of the journey left, Zhang Zhenghong went out to check the weather outside and found that the wind was not as strong as in the afternoon, so he said, "Wife, the wind is weak now so we can go out to sea tonight. You should go to bed early with the children and keep the door closed."
"Is it safe to go out to sea in this weather today?"
"It's okay. I'll go to Nanping Island. If there's a strong wind, I can still sail to Nanping Island to take shelter. That's what happened last night."
After comforting his wife, Zhang Zhenghong went to find his two brothers.
When they heard that they were going out to sea, the other two had no objection. They all wanted to pay back Zhang Ze's money as soon as possible, so that the fishing boat would completely belong to the three brothers.
They first went to Tong Guoqi's home, which was relatively close, only to find that no one was at home. The house was pitch black, and even his wife and children were not there.
Finally, I arrived at Tong Yuanhang's house and found that everyone had come here.
When he saw Tong Yuanhang's parents, Zhang Zhenghong knew that he could not go out to sea tonight, so he did not disturb them and called the two brothers Zhang Qinghe, so that the two fishing boats could take care of each other.
We sailed about twenty nautical miles out to sea, almost half the distance.
Zhang Qinghu was driving the fishing boat with a serious expression. He had sensed something was wrong.
He found that the waves were a little high now and the sea breeze was much stronger than before.
The fishing boat rose and fell, each time lifted high by the waves and then smashed down heavily, the splashing waves could splash directly onto the deck.
Even though it wasn't raining, the deck of their fishing boat was already soaked.
"Qing He, I feel like something is wrong with the weather tonight! The wind and waves are quite strong, almost as strong as the storm last night."
Although Zhang Qinghe usually seems a bit funny and careless, he is actually not as heartless as he appears to be. He also noticed that the weather was not right tonight.
"How about we go back? It's still about 30 nautical miles to Nanping Island. I'm afraid something might happen if the wind and waves are too strong on the way."
To put it bluntly, the two men were novices with poor boat driving skills. The swaying of the fishing boat made them feel a little panicked, and they even felt physically uncomfortable, dizzy and nauseous.
"I'll tell Ahong and go back now." Zhang Qinghu nodded, then picked up the radio, "Ahong, Ahong, can you hear me? The wind and waves are too strong now, how about we go back?"
Zhang Zhenghong heard his voice, then looked at his two brothers and asked, "Ah Hu said he wants to go back, what do you think?"
Zhang Zhengyue's face turned pale. He sat aside and tried to hold back the churning in his stomach. "Let's go back. I feel dizzy and want to vomit."
Zhang Zhengqiang was a little hesitant: "Brother, we still owe Aze 3,200 yuan! This round trip of more than 40 nautical miles will cost 40 to 50 yuan for diesel, and we're almost halfway there."
"It's better to go directly to Nanping Island now. The distance between the two sides is about the same. If it doesn't work later, we can tie the boat to Ah Hu's side."
"Wasn't it very stable when the four of us were tied together last night? Even though two boats wouldn't be that stable, wouldn't they be able to survive the strong wind tonight?"
Zhang Zhenghong felt that what his third brother said made some sense. After all, they were a 15-meter iron boat, which was much more resistant to wind and waves than a wooden boat. It would be no problem to tie the two boats together to ride out the bad weather tonight, so he told the other side his idea.
Zhang Qinghu thought it was right after hearing this. The return flight was about the same distance as going to Nanping Island. So it would be better to go there directly, saving fuel and not delaying the trip.
However, the next moment, a huge wave three or four meters high suddenly hit the side of the boat, causing the fishing boat to sway violently. The people in the cab almost lost their balance and crashed into each other due to weightlessness.
"Oh shit, brother, you better find an island to stop the boat. We can't continue driving. The boat will definitely capsize if we continue." Zhang Qinghe was immediately panicked by this.
He is still young and has not married yet, but he doesn't want to die in the sea.
Not only was he panicking, Zhang Qinghu wasn't much better either. He was even more of a novice than Zhang Qinghe, and although he had been driving the boat since they arrived, in fact, their boating skills were similar. Facing the strong winds and huge waves, neither of them had any experience and didn't know how to deal with it.
"Hiro, the waves are too big, should we tie the boats together?"
The situation on Zhang Zhenghong's side was similar. The three brothers were as panicked as Zhang Qinghe and his brother. When they heard that they wanted to tie the boats together, he immediately agreed.
However, we were able to tie the boats together successfully yesterday because the wind and waves had not really gotten strong yet, so we were able to tie the boats together by dropping the anchor after approaching the dock.
But the situation is different now. They have no control over the state of the ship under the strong wind and huge waves. When the two ships slowly approached each other, a wave almost caused the two ships to collide with each other, making everyone on the ship break out in a cold sweat.
At least in this kind of weather, they have a chance to hold on until the storm passes, but if they collide with each other, an accident will really happen.
Finally, Zhang Qinghe, who had spent more time with Zhang Ze, saw a familiar isolated island not far away and had an idea: "Hurry up, hurry up, let's sail to that island. The waves over there shouldn't be that big. At worst, we can get stranded on the beach. If this continues, we'll all be finished."
Several people were familiar with that isolated island. They would pass by it every time they went to Nanping Island and knew that there was a beach on the island.
After hearing his words, Zhang Zhenghong hurried over there. Now he didn't have to worry about what to do if the fishing boat was pushed to the beach by the waves and ran aground. He had to survive first. The two fishing boats rushed towards the isolated island one after the other.
If the experienced fishermen have experience, they will not panic when encountering this level of wind and waves. They will avoid such weather in advance.
Aim the stern of the boat in the direction of the waves and speed up to leave the storm area.
If you can't avoid it, you can definitely ride out this level of storm. Of course, there are risks, but experience and driving skills can minimize the risk.
The last stupid method is to do as Zhang Qinghe said, at worst we can be stranded on the beach and wait for rescue.
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This depends on luck. Generally, there are very few isolated islands with beaches on the sea, and basically there are reefs around the islands.
When the two boats were about to approach the shallow water area of the beach, they both turned off their engines at the same time. The speed decreased but they could not control it well and were pushed forward by the waves. The bows of the boats plunged deeply into the beach and rushed a short distance before stopping.
Both fishing boats had good luck, as the beach was mainly fine sand and not many rocks.
Although the stern of the boat will still be hit by the waves, most of the fishing boat is on the beach, so it is relatively stable.
It's just that because the stern is hit by the waves, the fishing boat that is rushing towards the beach vertically will gradually shift and become an angle.
Although the fishing boat was still shaking slightly, there was no possibility of capsizing.
"What should we do now?" Zhang Zhenghong asked on the radio.
Zhang Qinghe thought for a moment and said, "Let's try to contact the coast guard by radio. If we can get in touch with them, they can send a ship to help pull the boat back into the sea after the storm passes."
"Or when the weather gets better, we can contact Ahang and Aze who are going to Nanping Island to fish."
Zhang Zhenghong: "Then let's contact the coast guard first. Waiting for Aze and the others doesn't seem very reliable."
But after the two of them called each other for a while, they didn't get the response they wanted.
The fishing boat was only equipped with a radio for short-range communication, that is, ultra-short wave communication.
In the field of communications, the ultra-short wave distance is only one or two kilometers.
In FM broadcasting, it can reach dozens of nautical miles.
With the level of technology in the 1980s, it was still difficult for Zhang Zhenghong and others to contact the rescue ship at least 30 nautical miles away.
In addition, the weather would have a certain impact on the signal. After they tried to contact for a long time, there was no response even from the closer coast. They had no choice but to decide to take a rest first and try again after they had rested.
This only shows that they have no experience. Normally, they would have to call for help once every minute, so the frequency is high.
If they go to rest now, they may miss rescue.
It started raining again in Wenshui City at night, but the wind force was slightly lower than that on the sea.
At this time, Zhang Ze was gently wiping Tong Shuyao's freshly washed long hair. He naturally noticed the weather outside, but he didn't think anyone would go out to sea.
So he slept peacefully at night, and took his family to visit his parents-in-law the next day.
Tong Yuanhang's home is bustling with activity, but Zhang Qinghe and others on the isolated island are in a state of panic.
Although it was raining today, the wind and waves were much smaller, but they still could not contact the coast guard. Not even a single ship passed by the isolated island. It seemed that no fishermen went out to sea due to the weather.
"Ah Hu, how much food do you have left?" After a day, Zhang Zhenghong was upset to see that there were only two meals left, for tonight and tomorrow morning.
As they have not received any rescue efforts yet, they have to focus on storing food.
No one knows whether they will be rescued tomorrow. If they are unlucky, they may have to stay on the island for several days, and they will starve without food.
"I don't have much here, and it's low tide now. How about we go to the island to find some food? I saw some reefs next to the beach, maybe we can get some oysters and scallops." The Zhang Qinghu and his brother didn't prepare much food. They planned to spend two nights at sea and return on the third morning.
"Let's go. Let Zhengqiang continue to call for help on the boat, and the four of us will go out to find some food." Zhang Zhenghong left one person on the boat, and the others came down from the stern, carrying backpacks to find some food.
(End of this chapter)
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