Page 134 - The Tigris Expedition

Problems Continue
starboard and sail parallel to the island coast. This would lead us
directly into worse shallows, thirty miles wide, dotted with reefs,
which separate Failaka from the mainland of Iraq. I favoured the
second alternative, and everybody agreed. If we managed to sail
safely between the reefs and across the shallows in that direction, we
would be stranded on ‘swampy low land’ that would not damage
our reed-ship. All the coastline from Iran to Kuwait would be more
or less of the same type we had seen at the mouth of the Shatt-al-
Arab. Our only problem there would be the lack of arms on board:
we were now heading for the very coast described in the previous
year’s Persian Gulf Pilot as probably unsafe without armed escort.
The tidal current came in full force and the wind increased in
strength. We left the sea anchor out so as not to be too far displaced
from our given position before Slavsk found us. With our port side
turned to the island we began to roll badly. Rashad and Asbjorn
were seasick. Gherman crawled in and fell asleep. In the wave
troughs the sea was so shallow that grey mud was whirled up in
thick clouds from the bottom. No sign of any kind of life ashore,
but in the binoculars we saw a few round elevations that probably
were some of the prehistoric burial mounds. If the ancient
navigators had frequented this side of the island they must have
been truly expert mariners, unless the reefs and shallows were of
more recent date.
It was not yet noon when we sighted Slavsk as a black spot on the
eastern horizon. Half an hour later an orange-coloured motor
launch was lowered and came dancing towards us across the green
shallows. The big ship anchored in blue water three miles away, as
close to the edge of the shallows as was prudent. We recognised
Captain Igor in the bow of the bouncing launch. Water cascaded
around him and his crew in orange lifejackets. With a broad smile
and open arms he jumped on board our reed bundles and embraced
us.
‘My father!’
‘My grandfather!’
Our sail was down. All was joy now. The men with the orange
lifejackets in the orange lifeboat began pulling up our sea anchor. It
was as heavy as lead, full to the brim with greyish mud. It had saved
us from shipwreck in the dark.
No sooner was the sea anchor up and emptied before we and the
lifeboat began to drift off together with great speed. The lifeboat
crew started their engine and began to tow. But although they had a
powerful motor the wind took a strong grip on the high curves of
113