Frank sets sail in the steamship U.S.S. Ancona on 1933. They weigh anchor in the Port of Palermo, a city on the island of Sicily. This is located a few short miles from the Italian mainland in the Mediterranean sea. After 3 wonderful days, they pass through the Strait of Gibraltar, into the full force of the north Atlantic Ocean.
The radical change from the Mediterranean to the Atlantic where the tides are measured in combination to the Atlantic where tide are averaging 40+ feet. The result of these radical changes in conditions, combined with the voluntary confinement to storage, leaves Frank struggling with sea sickness for 5 days. Sea sickness frequently results from the body's inability to cope with a burden of feeling movement while on water. The mind is continually attempting to stabilize the body, but is unable to reconcile the difference; leading to dizziness, nausea, and vomiting.
Frank continued on for the next 5 days this way because of the radical changes in tides, landmasses, and the narrowing of the strait. The calmer seas of the Mediterranean are due to the higher saline content, viscosity, and it being lower than the channel. It then begins to rise to the Atlantic Ocean. The channel in the middle has a life of its own, yielding more aquatic variety than normal making the area rich and diverse.
This is also the only place were 2 continents can be viewed at one time, Africa and Europe, are approximately 9 miles apart at this location. If you were to visit today, for the bargain fee of $1800.00 you are able to open sea swim at this location. Frank on the other hand was onward to Philadelphia and the relief of a solid terrain on the other side of the Atlantic.
Wikipedia References
Comments