My Clarity

Chapter twenty - six

''There is another ship.'' Rose breathed out the cold air as they stood on the port-side of the ship. Jack watched just over the horizon, when the glowing lights of a larger ship than the Californian seemed to be steaming towards them. All about them, it seemed to be a whirlwind of activity and chaos. Since coming out to stand upon the decks, she had kept a firm eye for her mother, but she seemed to be nowhere in sight. That, combined with everything which was a blur about her, made the night feel even more surreal.

''Will it arrive in time?''

Rose blinked her eyes; Jack's stare returned to fix on her and she became paralysed once more and only became aware of the feel of his skin beneath her fingers and then his own fingers as they curled around her own in a way that only lovers would. He was her only tie to reality amongst the absurdity of a night like this.

''Perhaps.''

''It doesn't feel as though the ship is going down.''

''Time will truly tell.''

Clutching onto his shoulder, Jack tried to not expose too much of his pain aloud, but at times, it was beyond his control. It was only now; exhaustion was setting in and his limbs felt both on fire and failing at the very same time. Rose's piercing gaze, her hand within his and the press of her body against his torso in the middle of what felt like a thousand thick crowd was the only focal point for him.

''Jack, we have to get you aboard a lifeboat.''

''I am all right, it is just the jostling about that is paining me.'' He told her, through gritted teeth. ''If people had been so eager to board the lifeboats an hour ago, the decks wouldn't have been so damned full.''

In a large crowd of hundreds, the entire starboard and port side was a jungle of people. Women and children climbed aboard a lifeboat, which would have three or four men aboard to row them off to the safety of the Californian, who in turn sent their own boats to the Titanic to take more passengers to safety in double time. Or, so they hoped.

Titanic herself, still seemed to be the safest place to be. A floating sanctuary. It was only, once you gathered your wits and paid true attention that the tilt of the deck was noticed. With the circus about them, it was hard to notice anything other than the tasks at hand. The port-side and starboard side were both surrounded by those awaiting instruction to board the boats.

On the port-side, they were oddly numbered. Each boat was provided with oars, together with blankets, provisions and flares. The keels were of elm, and the stems and stern post were of oak. They were all clinker built of yellow pine, double fastened with copper nails, clinched over grooves.

The timbers were of elm spaced about 9 inches apart and the seats pitch pine secured with galvanised iron double knees. The buoyancy tanks in the lifeboats were of 18-oz. copper, and of capacity to meet the Board of Trade requirements. Life-lines were fitted round the gunwales of the lifeboats. The davit blocks were treble for the lifeboats and double for the cutters.

They were of elm, with lignum vitae roller sheaves, and were bound inside with iron, and had swivel eyes. Sails for each lifeboat and cutter were supplied and stowed in painted bags. Covers were supplied for the lifeboats and cutters, and a sea anchor for each boat. Every lifeboat was furnished with a special spirit boat compass and fitting for holding it; these compasses were carried in a locker on the Boat deck. A provision tank and water beaker were supplied to each boat.

It was these small details which were protruding Jack's mind, as he waited alongside many others, knowing that as a male, he would not be entitled to a seat within the boat, and rightly so, unless one could be seen as an auxiliary seaman, women and children should be the ones to be sent aboard to safety first. With his meeting with Bruce Ismay, during the time the ship was built, he was reminded of the stark facts which was thrown at him to impress a young, newly inherited steel tycoon and in parts, it had. Now, though, standing amongst what could only be described as a true disaster, the amenities were utterly worthless and it was the number of lifeboats which seemed to be failing them. Across the water, a few hundred feet away, the Californian worked with the crew of Titanic to take in passengers who were already in the lifeboats. The ship sat adjacent to the port side, and those lifeboats launched from the starboard would have to row outwards and then around the large ship, in a move which could take hours to complete, that is if the ship didn't founder before and drag down the lifeboats with its suction.