{"id":697,"date":"2026-07-10T06:13:10","date_gmt":"2026-07-10T06:13:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/insidemayasmind.com\/?p=697"},"modified":"2026-07-10T06:13:10","modified_gmt":"2026-07-10T06:13:10","slug":"the-fate-of-the-hapet-chapter-2-plumes-off-the-port-beam","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/insidemayasmind.com\/?p=697","title":{"rendered":"The Fate of The H\u00e5pet – Chapter 2, Plumes Off the Port Beam"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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My thick boots slipped slightly on the frost covered steps as I hurried down to the main deck. Pulling the heavy weight of my woollen coat around myself, I could feel the bite of the chilly air on my cheeks and the tingle at the ends of my fingers. A stark contrast to the relative warmth of my cabin.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The canvas sails slapped loudly above my head as I rushed towards the port rail, Jens trotting at my side, where half a dozen of the crew had already gathered.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The men fell silent, parting for me as I approached them. Their faces were tired and haggard. Their eyes sunken but held a spark that I hadn\u2019t seen in weeks.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The sea was an expanse of dark, rolling, inky blackness that stretched out endlessly before me. Scattered across that immense mass of water, the ice floes glowed a ghostly orange in the low-slung midnight sun.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWhat have we got, Gunnar?\u201d I said, stepping beside a rugged, grey bearded old harpooner.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cPlumes off the port beam, Captain,\u201d Gunnar said, not taking his eyes off the waters. \u201cA pod of bowheads, about sixteen cables out.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cA blow!\u201d came a sudden call from the crow\u2019s nest.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A gasp escaped my lips as I saw their spouts out on the horizon, like white phantoms rising up against the dark backdrop of the plum sky. A moment later, the sound reached us. First a loud pop, followed by a heavy, guttural roar that tore through the frozen night and rattled the rigging above.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cOne, two, three\u2026\u201d I heard Gunnar counting. \u201cGood Lord, Captain. There\u2019s got to be at least six of them out there.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

An excited murmur rippled through the crowded crew, which had grown from half a dozen to more than fourteen men crowding around the bulwark.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThey\u2019re heading north.\u201d Jens\u2019 voice was grim. \u201cThey\u2019re making for the deep drifts. The boats will never catch them from this distance. We\u2019ll have to bring the ship amongst them and then drop the boats.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI\u2019m not chasing them from behind, Jens,\u201d I replied. \u201cI\u2019ll not risk scattering them. Tell the helmsman to bring us three points to port. We\u2019ll run parallel past them to head them off, drop the boats a quarter-mile to the north and let them run into us.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Jens was silent, his body stiff and his eyes fixed on the ominous white-blue glow hovering above the northern horizon. The iceblink shone brightly against the low clouds, a beautiful but silent warning of the vast pack ice that lay ahead.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe wind is in the south, Jens,\u201d I said, trying to allay his fears as much as to settle the churn that I felt in my own stomach. \u201cThat\u2019ll keep the ice lanes open. If it stays like this, we\u2019ve got a few days. Enough time to fill our hold.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n\n\n\n

\u201cEasy now, lads,\u201d I whispered, the breath misting in front of my face in the frigid, crisp Arctic air.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The five oarsmen gently backed their oars and without a sound lifted them out of the water. Their faces watching me for any signal, their bodies shivering in the cold. A nervous hush settled over the small whaleboat; any movement, any sound now could alert the approaching pod.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

With a hand on the steering oar, I allowed the boat to drift into position.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Behind me, a mile away, was the dark silhouette of the H\u00e5pet, laid to and motionless in the water. I could almost see the lone figure of Jens watching us from the quarterdeck. Beyond her, grim and looming in the distance, stretched the towering cliffs of the main pack ice, visible and gleaming in the now brilliant morning sun.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Turning my attention back to the front, my eyes scanned across the other three whaleboats we had dropped. Gunnar had taken up his position out on the left. The grizzled old man stood at the bow, the sunlight glinting off the head of his raised harpoon. In the centre, young Christian Bjornson\u2019s craft dipped its oars one last time before raising and stowing them. Christian was only a young man, barely twenty, but had proved himself surprisingly capable and quick to learn in the couple of seasons he had sailed. He was a lad who would go far; I had little doubt about that.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Finally, I glanced out to the right. Sitting low, his boat bathed in the dazzling reflection of the sun was my second mate, Nils Amundsen. An able and experienced sailor who had been with me for the last five seasons.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Our net was cast wide. We had counted at least six animals, a huge pod, and I wanted half of them.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We had chased them at least five miles to the north. Here the seawater was a thick, frozen slurry which lapped lazily around our keel. Towering around us rose monstrous floating mountains of drift ice. We had been forced to sail into the ice lanes, a dangerous gamble, but for now, the channels remained wide and our passage south was clear.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The silence stung in my ears. It had been five minutes since the last blow, and they were heading straight towards our trap.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Suddenly my small boat lurched as the water beneath us heaved. I stumbled before steadying myself as a giant creature breached the surface just metres away. The deafening clap of its blowhole opening hammered my eardrums like a gunshot. With a hiss, a huge plume of water erupted into the air, showering us with its icy spray and filling the air with the stench of brine and krill.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

My eyes snapped out to the other boats. A large, shining black back rose beside Gunnar\u2019s. Another came up behind Christian, while just a few meters from Nils was an absolute monster of an animal.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Throwing my hand to the sky in signal, a tingle surged down my spine. I watched the boats get into position, the harpooners holding their spears above their heads. There was only one chance. We had to get this right. If one harpoon struck before the others, we risked scaring the other two into flight.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cGive it to them!\u201d I screamed as my hand dropped to my side in one swift movement.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The harpooners didn\u2019t hesitate. They lunged forward, driving their barbed spears home. And then, with my heart pounding against my ribs, there was a moment of unnatural calm before the sea exploded into a maelstrom of foam and thrashing tails.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Almost as quickly as it had started, the chaos vanished as, in unison, the harpooned whales dived into the depths. Meters of hemp rope streamed from the bows of the small whaleboats before snapping taut with a crack that echoed around the valleys of ice.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The bows of the boats dipped before lurching forward, pulled through the freezing sea as the frantic, sixty-ton beasts bolted for the safety of the pack ice.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I glanced back towards the H\u00e5pet, the dark shape of the ship sharpened in my vision, my muscles twitched with anticipation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Now we wait. Soon the whales would exhaust themselves, and then my boat would move in for the kill.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cCaptain!\u201d a voice called out urgently to me.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Turning my head, I saw my boat crew staring out towards the three fastboats. My heart lurched in my chest, my stomach twisting as I followed their gaze.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The whales had changed direction. They were no longer pulling down the open ice lane but were charging straight towards the sheer cliff of an ice floe at dizzying speed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThrow the drogues!\u201d My voice was hoarse as I screamed the instructions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It was pointless. The boats wouldn\u2019t be able to hear me at that distance. But through the white spray thrown up behind them, I could see the crews frantically working. The harpooners were crouched low, desperately tying the harpoon lines to the heavy oak drogues.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

My jaw clenched.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cDrop them, lads,\u201d I whispered, helpless as the boats sped into the deep shadow of the looming blue-white cliff of the floe.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Nils\u2019 was the first boat to throw their drogue overboard, freeing themselves from the panicked animal. The dark wooden block hit the water, shuddered as the line snapped tight before being pulled down under the glassy surface.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Christian\u2019s was the next craft to save itself, its drogue vanishing too beneath the watery depths.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

My eyes snapped to Gunnar\u2019s. Crouched so low in the boat that he was barely visible, the old sailor was struggling with the knots. The frenzied shouts from his crew sounded crisp in the still arctic air. Leaning over the bow, one of the oarsmen was desperately hacking at the thick hemp rope.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cStand your oars!\u201d I bellowed, throwing my entire weight into the steering oar to pivot my boat towards the frozen mass. \u201cLay into it! Row, you bastards, row!\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The men didn\u2019t hesitate, their blades struck the slush with a low, scraping hiss. Their backs straining as they heaved on the heavy rough handles with a primal, simultaneous grunt.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But we all knew it was hopeless. With tears blurring my eyes, I watched as Gunnar\u2019s craft struck the jagged wall of ice with a sickening, splintering crunch.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

My thick boots slipped slightly on the frost covered steps as I hurried down to the main deck. Pulling the<\/p>\n

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