The cauldron of the speckled seas

March 14, 2013 7:06 PM

Having discovered an odd description on one of the Ordnance maps, author sets off on a journey to see the beast.

The map in question. Whirlpools, including Corryvreckan, previously.

posted by hat_eater (12 comments total)

I can't believe he didn't include any photos.
posted by Chocolate Pickle at 7:16 PM on March 14, 2013 [6 favorites]

I will just put in here a plug for 'I Know Where I'm Going!' which is one of those classics where everything was got just right. It is much more than the sum of its parts.
posted by dhartung at 7:17 PM on March 14, 2013 [1 favorite]

There's video here.
posted by empath at 7:24 PM on March 14, 2013

George Orwell and the Corryvreckan.
posted by adamvasco at 7:51 PM on March 14, 2013 [2 favorites]

Illustration of submarine surface of Corryvreckan.

Such a cool and terrifying thing.
posted by rtha at 8:24 PM on March 14, 2013

I have now learned the source of the word "maelstrom."
posted by shoesietart at 8:26 PM on March 14, 2013

"One hour and one soaking ferry crossing later and I was with a boatman who agreed that he was foolish enough to make the journey to look upon the beast. A small sum in folding money had changed hands, and I, by now swathed in a borrowed set of orange oilskins and a black sou’wester, clambered down into his little fishing boat, a sturdy and well-worn thing of many years. As I steadied myself between the piles of lobster creels and coils of old blue rope, we swept out of the calm of Cullipool’s harbor on Luing and into the gray chop of the sound.

The rain had stopped, but the wind was decidedly westerly, and freshening. The tide was just now slack and about to turn on the flood. "The right time," said the boatman, "the perfect time to see the old hag do her worst."

Christ, I'm wasting my life.
posted by R. Schlock at 8:33 PM on March 14, 2013 [1 favorite]

I would very much like to take a train to Oban, then drive to the Isle of Luing to have a scotch in a pub and listen to the sailors talk about the Old Hag Cailleach who drowned the ancient king of Norway.

*goes back to reading story*
posted by Slarty Bartfast at 8:41 PM on March 14, 2013 [1 favorite]

I feel rather odd writing this in my own fpp, but it is a double, and I even provided link to the original in the post. I need more sleep.
posted by hat_eater at 8:51 PM on March 14, 2013

Descent into the Maelstrom
posted by hortense at 8:52 PM on March 14, 2013

Christ, I'm wasting my life.

On the one hand I agree. On the other hand...

"Hold on!" cried the boatman, and he accelerated, at first gently, then more fiercely, to make sure the craft didn’t get caught and spun down into the center. We edged out away from the lip, only to find, quite unexpectedly, that another flat circle of oily-looking water had appeared ahead of us on the left. Its flatness then promptly vanished, too, into an eruption of swirling green water, and its new currents licked at us, prompting another change of course, another burst of engine—after which there was another, and another and another.

...on the other hand I like not being surrounded by randomly appearing death spirals.

You know what doesn't feel like wasting my life? Standing on a beach on a calm day, watching the gentle waves and the clouds as they pass through the mountains.
posted by justsomebodythatyouusedtoknow at 8:53 PM on March 14, 2013 [1 favorite]

..on the other hand I like not being surrounded by randomly appearing death spirals.

YOLO!
posted by empath at 8:57 PM on March 14, 2013 [1 favorite]