Chapters 10-13 Summary and Analysis

The Happy Adventure and her crew spend five days ashore while waiting for good weather. During this time, the men realize that their previous dreams of sailing the Atlantic are more than a bit unrealistic. Mowat says, "We had given up on our original intention of sailing to the tropics because it was clear from a scrutiny of our log that, even if we maintained our current rate of progress, it would take us sixteen months to reach the Caribbean, twenty-nine months to reach the Azores, and seven and a half years to reach the South Pacific. We did not have that much time" (Chapter 10, pg. 95.)

Instead, the men settle on the nearby island of St. Pierre. Although the island is not everything the entire trip could be, it makes up for some of the disappointment. The island is...