The Captain's Only Sea (Cavanaugh #4)

Kabanata 8

Kabanata 8

Boy

"Ano'ng pinag-aaralan mo? Hindi naman 'yan tungkol sa barko a'? Stars? Gusto mo nang maging astronaut?" may pagtataka sa boses ko. I was craning my neck to see the screen of his laptop.

Magkatabi kami sa malaki'ng cottage nila rito malapit sa bangkaan. Gamit ko ang kaniyang pinahiram sa cellphone. May mga notebook ang nagkalat sa mesa. Hindi rin mawawala na may pagkain na gawa ng baker ni Sir Everardo. Cookies at pancake. May fresh buko juice din.

Weekend, it was. After I helped my father with some fishing nets, Daumier invited me here. There was no class, I had my spare time and nothing to do in the house, so I made up my mind to join him.

Yeah. Papa and Sir Everardo just came back after a week. Umuwi na rin kami ni Kaia sa bahay. Manang Sonya was sad. She really wanted to take care of us, kids. Naiibsan daw kasi ang pangungulila niya sa kaniyang mga apo na nasa ibang bansa na. Naikuwento niya nga sa amin na Overseas Filipino Worker iyong mga anak niya na ngayon ay nag-migrate na sa ibang bansa. Kinuha ang mga apo na siyang nagbabantay at nag-aalaga noon. Gusto ng mga anak niya na sumunod doon pero siya mismo ang humindi at mas pinili ang manatili rito sa Madridejos.

Kaia was somewhere with her new friends, hanging out. Tapos na rin naman ang mga gawaing bahay namin. Nakapag-usap na rin kami na bumalik ng bahay bago mag alas onse nang makapagluto kami ng tanghalian.

Tungkol naman kay Aya. Wala akong binigay na sagot at umalis na ako noong araw na 'yon. May pahabol pa siya na tatanungin niya ako ulit sa susunod. Who is she scaring again? Me? Oh, me.

Preoccupied with the astronaut thing that I was asking, Daumier voiced his thoughts out.

"I'm studying how possible it is to navigate using stars. Seamen use constellations too," tutok na tutok ito sa kaniyang laptop. Seryoso at halos magkasalubong na ang makakapal na kilay. "But this one star caught my interest. It's a guiding star for ancient sailors, and seafarers if they are in the Northern Hemisphere. This specific star barely move and appears to be fixed in the direction of North that's why it's called the 'North Star' or also known as 'Polaris'. The Polaris will help them determine and find other directions in the middle of their voyage. . .  Hm, guess, that's that."

That was kind of interesting. Ancient and historic related to seas and oceans.

Curiosity was worming in my brain. "Paano ngayon na may compass na? May teknolohiya na? Hindi na nagagamit ang bituin na 'yan?"

"It's still useful," he moved the laptop's mouse in a fraction of motion. "To sail in the ocean, you have to be familiar with its skies too."

"Ang hirap naman niyan, lalo na siguro kung makulimlim," komento ko at napatingin sa labas ng cottage. My sight found the sea horizon where the skies met the ocean line, far from here. "Mahirap din pala'ng makipagsapalaran sa ilalim ng dagat. Limitado lang 'yong makikita dahil sa dilim. Maginaw pa. Tapos 'yong agos ng tubig kailangan labanan. Iyong pressure din nagdedepende kung gaano na kalalim ang nasisid. 'Yong klima rin pala dapat munang alamin. Marami ring dadalhing gamit kapag sumisisid."

Remembering some things that I watched from a documentary video, and read from articles and blogs? I felt challenged.

Sure, it was such a struggle. To study Marine Archeology was hard, what more to dig and dive deeper? Ano pa kaya kung talagang gagawin na? Siguro ay masasanay din ako niyan kalaunan.

"In your field, you can use navigation techniques, and with that you'll know where you're diving," Daumier worded out. A proud chuckle escaped from his mouth. "You really learned huh? What can you say after knowing the hard parts of it? Are you backing out?"