Henderson

23 June 2024

Henderson

Water and air. As far as you look there is nothing else to see. Days, weeks on end. This ocean is so immense and this part of it is one of the most remote places. There is simply nothing and so there is no shipping, no fishing, just nothing at all. That the mutineers of the Bounty chose Pitcairn to hide in at the time is therefore not surprising. That Captain Bligh, who must have been consumed with rage and vindictiveness after his long journey in a small boat to the mainland, a long journey back to England and then back again with another ship to search for the mutineers, almost found them here is extraordinary. Almost, because he visited the islet of Henderson, part of the Pitcairn group, and decided there was no point in searching the other islets.

Henderson is also famous for the sinking of the whaler Essex, close to the Marquesas Islands a lot further north. The Essex was sunk by a large sperm whale and this true story was the model for the famous book “Moby Dick”. The survivors of the Essex tried to sail back to the South American mainland in two small sloops. They eventually reached Henderson, where they left some people behind and sailed on. A small number of hemn survived the harsh journey and those left behind on henderson were rescued.

Last night we passed Henderson Island about 10 miles away. It is that we have a map, otherwise we would not have noticed it in this big empty ocean.