We're Not Afraid to Die... if we can All Be Together Summary Class 11 cbse

" We're Not Afraid to Die ... if
We Can all Be Together "
         By: Gordon Cook and Alan East

INTRODUCTION
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This is an adventurous story about undertaking a three year long sea voyage by the narrator and his family. The story describes how the crews face the death like marine conditions and also how they overcome all the odds by dint of their optimism, courage and the bond of togetherness.

SUMMARY
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The narrator decided to go on the round - the - world - voyage. He along with his wife spent 16 years in preparation and finally in July 1976 , he started his sea voyage in a professionally built boat named 'Wavewalker' from Plymouth, England.
The narrator's wife Mary, his son Jonathan and daughter Suzanne were also with him.

They reached Cape Town pleasantly. There they took two crewmen ---- the American Larry Vigil and the Swiss Herb Seigler --- and sailed towards the Southern Indian Ocean for the second leg of their voyage.

On the second day, the marine weather became atrocious and they had to face strong winds and alarming waves.

On 2nd January, sea condition got worse. The gigantic waves, screaming wind and spray began to send alarms.To minimise the damage, they dropped the storm jib and lashed a heavy mooring rope in a loop across the stern. To face the worst , they went through the life - raft drill.

At about 6 pm  enormous waves  hit the boat. The captain's head smashed into the wheel of the boat. His left ribs were cracked,mouth was filled with blood and teeth were broken. With water pouring in the lower part of the ship, the boat was almost capsized.

The captain handed the wheel to Marry . While Larry and Herb were pumping out the water , the captain managed to reach the children. Sue had a big bump in her head and a deep cut on her arm .But she didn't tell the narrator more of her injuries as she didn't want to worry him.

The narrator waterproofed the hatch cover with help of a canvas , hammer and screw and drained water out of boat with an electric pump.

The captain knew that the boat would not hold together for long and the only hope of their survival depended upon reaching the near by French Scientific Base -- Ile Amsterdam.

The weather again started deteriorating and by the dawn of 5th January they were again in trouble.

The narrator tried to comfort the children. Jonathan said that they were not afraid of dying if they can all be together. This gave the narrator hope and a reason to fight the sea.

On 6th January, the weather improved. The narrator calculated their position in order to know how far they were away from the Ile Amsterdam. In the mean time Sue came to him and gave him a card. She had drawn caricature of Mary and the narrator .The card said that she loved both of them and hoped for the best. The card of Sue and the statement of Jonathan gave narrator fresh hope and optimism to fight for survival.

After doing calculations, the narrator asked Larry to steer a course of 185 degree saying that if they were lucky , they would see the island at about 5 pm. After instructing Larry, the narrator went to sleep.

When the narrator woke up at 6 pm, he thought that the destination was perhaps missed. But when Jonathan and Sue came to hug him, he knew that they had found the island . When his feet touched the island , he thought of the hopefulness and the optimism of all the people especially children which gave him extra energy to fight the ordeal in the sea.
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