Sailing the Gulf Stream

The Nautilus's passage through the Gulf Stream marks a distinct phase of its underwater voyage, one defined by the current's unique physical properties, the mounting desperation of its prisoners, and a culminating storm that tests both ship and crew. This oceanic river, with its own banks, fish, and temperature, becomes a setting where the natural world's power and the human drama of confinement and vengeance converge.

The Gulf Stream as a Natural Phenomenon

The Gulf Stream is described as a genuine river within the ocean, its waters never mixing with the surrounding sea. It is saltier, with an average depth of 3,000 feet and a width of sixty miles, moving at speeds up to four kilometers per hour. Its volume exceeds that of all the world's rivers combined. The Nautilus enters this current after leaving Old Bahama Channel, which is fourteen leagues wide and 350 meters deep. The current's speed steadily decreases as it advances northward, a stability that, if altered, could cause incalculable disturbances to European climates. The water temperature of the Gulf Stream, as it leaves the Gulf of Mexico, is barely different from human blood temperature, making it a huge heat generator that enables the coasts of Europe to remain green. The current's distinctness is so clear that the Nautilus's spur could cut the waves of the Gulf Stream while its propeller still churned those belonging to the ocean. The water is murky and rich in saline material, its pure indigo contrasting with the green waves surrounding it.

The Voyage through the Current

During this passage, the Nautilus wanders at random, with all supervision seemingly jettisoned. The ship navigates on the surface for entire days, the sea nearly deserted except for a few sailing ships heading toward the Cape of Good Hope. The Gulf Stream sweeps along a host of moving creatures, including argonauts, rays with ultra-slender tails, and little sharks with sharp teeth. Among bony fish, the crew observes grizzled wrasse, deep-water gilthead, croakers, black rudderfish, blue dorados, and rainbow-hued parrotfish. At night, the Gulf Stream's phosphorescent waters rival the electric glow of the Nautilus's beacon, especially during the stormy weather that frequently threatens. The ship's course brings it abreast of North Carolina and Cape Hatteras, where the current is seventy-five miles wide and 210 meters deep.

The Storm and Its Aftermath

The storm bursts during the daytime of May 13, just as the Nautilus is cruising abreast of Long Island, a few miles from the narrows to Upper New York Bay. The wind blows from the southwest, initially a stiff breeze at fifteen meters per second, building to twenty-five meters by three o'clock in the afternoon. Captain Nemo, lashed around the waist, stations himself on the platform to face the monstrous breakers. The raging sea is swept with huge tattered clouds, and the Nautilus rolls and pitches frightfully, sometimes lying on its side, sometimes standing on end like a mast. Near five o'clock, a torrential rain falls but lulls neither wind nor sea. The hurricane is unleashed at a speed of forty-five meters per second, almost forty leagues per hour. The waves measure up to fifteen meters in height over a length of 150 to 175 meters. After nightfall, the storm grows in intensity, the barometer falling to 710 millimeters. The skies catch on fire, streaked with violent flashes of lightning. The rain is followed by a downpour of fire, and the Nautilus rears its steel spur into the air like a lightning rod. Shattered and at the end of his strength, Professor Aronnax slides to the hatch and goes below. Captain Nemo reenters near midnight, and the Nautilus sinks gently beneath the surface, finding tranquility at fifty meters down, while a dreadful hurricane rages above.

The Context of Confinement and Escape

This journey through the Gulf Stream occurs during a period of intense strain on board. Ned Land, the Canadian harpooner, is at the end of his patience, his vigorous nature unable to adapt to the protracted imprisonment. He tells Aronnax that he must speak to Captain Nemo, declaring that he has had his fill at the South Pole and will not go to the North Pole. The seas are thoroughly foul, with storms commonplace, the very homeland of tornadoes and cyclones engendered by the Gulf Stream's current. Facing a frequently raging sea in a frail skiff would be a race to certain disaster, and even Ned Land concedes this. Aronnax confronts Captain Nemo, asking if he intends to keep them forever. The captain replies that whomever boards the Nautilus must never leave it, calling it outright slavery. The captain adds that he did not go looking for Ned Land and does not keep him on board for his pleasure. From that day forward, their position is very strained. Ned Land declares that since they can expect nothing from the captain, they will escape no matter what the weather, as the Nautilus nears Long Island. The storm that follows dashes these hopes, throwing the ship back to the east and away from any landing places in New York or the St. Lawrence.