Au sujet des naufrages

I have been trying to figure out why the Costa Concordia shipwreck has grabbed my attention so. It has to be more than disaster porn... finally, tonight I got it (I think).

In September 1977 two college classmates and I crossed the Atlantic on the QE2. Cunard wisely had a sale on fares for college-age students and so the ship was packed with 20-somethings, many of whom, myself included, were going to 'spend a year abroad'. What better way to get my grandmother's trunk from her cruises across the ocean for $400 than to take the QE2. Since my mother's mother had travelled the seas, I figured I could, too. Likewise, my French teacher's father had worked on the United States and she talked about crossing the sea many times, so seeing the seas intrigued me.

We left on 1 September 1977 at about 6.00 PM. Back in those days, it was saying goodbye to one's family for a year and so I left my parents, said grandmother and college friend at the quai. I had chosen the QE2 because my cousins crossed the Atlantic on one of its early trips in August 1970 when they were moving to the Netherlands. As we steamed out of New York, with the sun setting, we passed the newly-finished Twin Towers.

Our first night at sea was gentle; it was probably about four hours into the voyage that we no longer could see the shore. And, like the folks on the Costa Concordia, we had a late dinner and then went above deck to take it all in. Bedtime had us waaaay down; I don't remember what deck it was but a far way from the fancy parts of the ship.

The rest of the crossing was rough, very rough. It was September, after all, when there are many storms on the Atlantic. On top of it all, something was awry with the stabilisers so the ship yawed ever more than it should have.

We had our lifeboat drill the morning after we got on board when it was still sunny out. [Maybe my memory is faulty here and we had it as soon as we got on board but, in that case, I would not have been able to photograph the WTC and Hoboken and I know we had the drill in daylight so I honestly think it was the next morning.]

My sound track for the crossing was James Taylor's Terra Nova (lyrics below)*. Most fitting.

So I look at the QE2 in comparison with the Costa Concordia and think, 'How quaint... how puny!' But the ship was plenty big, I assure you. I cannot imagine being on such a gigantic ship as the Concordia. Yikes.

I remember how hard it was to go down the long, long, long hallways to get to the stairs (it was not wise to take the elevators when it was really rough). I can't imagine trying to do it in a badly-listing ship and in the dark.

So, having been on an ocean liner, I have a sense of what it is like to walk around inside, get above deck. What I cannot imagine is the chaos. And so my heart goes out to the people who were affected by this. (And, yes, I realise they had to have had money to be on this thing, but nonetheless, their lives have been changed by this event.)

* Oh end this day show me the ocean
When shall I see the sea

May this day set me in emotion
I ought to be on my way

We were there
We were sailing on the terra nova
Sailing for the setting sun
Sailing for the new horizon

May this day show me an ocean
I ought to be on my way

Ought to be on my way right now
Stepping on the boat
With a lump in my throat
On my way right now

I got a letter from a dear friend of mine
The story of a spiritual awakening
She spoke of her love
Returning in kind
She let me know that
She'd be waiting

And I should be on my way by now
Walking across the floor
Reaching for the door
On my way by now

But here I sit country fool that I am
My elbow on my knee
And my chin in my hand

And my eye on the street
Holed up in a cave of concrete

And I ought to be on my way right now
Packing my things
While the telephone rings
On my way right now

I miss my lovely mother
And I love my lonely father
I know I owe my brothers
One thing and another
I hear my sister singing

And I ought to be on my way right now
Moving across the land
With my heart in my hand
On my way by now
Ought to be on my way by now

Oh end this day set me in motion
Ought to be on my way

Out of the west of lambert's cove
There's a sail out in the sun
And I'm on board though very small
I've come home to stop yearning

Burn off the haze around the shore
Turn off the crazy way I feel
I'll stay away from you no more
I've come home to stop yearning