condensed master

Will Bonner
next morning.
Will showered and changed into clean clothes. Apart from a small sector of
the crew, most everyone would be ashore until late, having a last fling before
sailing. Lying on his bunk he tried to relax but found it impossible. His escape from
the military grounds was too recent, the events kept flooding back into his mind
and it would continue for the rest of the day. Finally, feeling the effects of the
culmination of all that had happened, he wearily retired to his bunk hoping to get
a good night's sleep.
He awoke to the sound of the ship's engines starting up, and by the time he
managed to get up on deck they were on their way past Pearl Harbour. Will sat
astern, watching the Honolulu skyline recede into the distance, his mind torn
between two conflicts.
He would have enjoyed more time in Hawaii, but the assignment would have
still been dominant, so it was probably a good thing that the ship had sailed earlier
than expected.
The ship headed south west bound for New Zealand where it would be dry
docked for repairs to a damaged hull. Each day got hotter as they approached the
equator but the daily routines were far from taxing, giving plenty of opportunity to
get the trauma of the Hawaiian assignment behind him. It would be two to three
weeks sailing and another couple of weeks or so before the repairs would be
effected, finally allowing them to sail home to England via the notorious Cape
Horn.
Will experienced to it’s full extent an apt name for this part of the world “The
devil’s cauldron.” Day after day of mountainous seas was like living in hell until the
ship rounded “the horn” through Drake’s Passage and headed north for home.
They were still only halfway through the journey but conditions were now more
tolerable.
World war 2 was now over and Will was discharged back into civilian life.
The economics of Europe had been decimated by the war. Large volumes of
army, navy and air force personnel swelled the work force entering into an
environment that had hardly started to change over from war production to
commercial enterprise. It was obvious that it would take some years for the
country to get back to some stability, consequently, Will knew that he had to make
a profound decision and without delay.
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