During our voyage on the night shift, the weather was rough, and I was on duty on the Bridge. Suddenly, we received an emergency broadcast on the VHF radio:

“Mayday-Relay, Mayday-Relay, Mayday-Relay…

To all ships, To all ships, To all Ships…

This is port Raven, port Raven, port Raven…

Mayday sailing boat Little One Charlie Lima Echo Nine…

Position twenty-five miles from port Raven bearing one, eight, nine…

Sailing boat is sinking...

Two elderly persons on board…

To all ships in the vicinity please assist in rescue operations.”

The message started to repeat over and over. I checked the radar and saw that the sailing boat was 3 miles off our starboard side. According to regulations, the Cadet couldn't be alone on the bridge or take any action without the Captain’s approval, so I quickly ran as fast as I could. I jumped down the stairs to get the Captain.

I shouted, “Captain, please hurry; there is a Mayday near our position!”

Captain Don Quixote was reading some papers when he looked at me with a strange, frightened expression, as if someone had just told him, 'Give me all your money, or I'll hurt you.' His unnerving stare lasted for a minute.

I said: “Captain, it’s a Mayday; we need to go!”

“He calmly stood up and put his shoes on, then followed me to the bridge. The emergency message continued to repeat on the VHF. I led Captain Don Quixote to the radar and showed him that we were near the sailing boat in distress. His eyes widened as if they were about to pop out. I felt like a dog on a chain, frustrated that Captain Don Quixote was taking his time while people were in danger. Thoughts raced through my mind: 'Those people could drown. We must act now.' My heart was pounding, and I knew I had to do something.

I asked, “Captain, will I alarm the crew?”

The Captain stared at the screen, and with a firm voice, he replied, “You will do no such thing.”

I was confused by this statement and said, “Sorry, Captain. What is the correct procedure first? Do we respond to the VHF call?”

Captain Don Quixote changed his body stance like he was in the military and about to salute someone. He addressed me with a firm commanding voice, “You will do no such thing. They don’t need our assistance. We stay on route!”

My mind started to get all mixed up by voices that screamed inside my brain, ‘What is happening? Is he for real? This is not happening; I didn’t hear him correctly.’

I said, “But Captain, what do you mean? They are right there; we are the closest ship on the radar. We have to help them.”

Captain Don Quixote shouted at me, “I am the Captain of this ship, you do as I say. You are not the Captain, you are nobody. The company will not ask you why the ship is late for delivery in the next port. What will you say, because you wanted to play rescue?”

I said, “But Captain, we must assist. Every ship will see our AIS[1] signal and know that we just passed by the sailing boat without helping. Those people could drown.”

Captain Don Quixote nervously rushed to the AIS unit and turned it off. On the VHF, port control was begging any vessel in the vicinity to assist, as their response time was slow and they would probably arrive too late. Something inside me broke. All I could see in my head were people on that sailing boat, crying for help, drowning all alone. I reached for the VHF to respond to the distress call. In a second, Captain Don Quixote shoved me away and turned off the VHF unit near me. Then he quickly turned and pinned my body against the chartroom wall with his arms, full of anger.

Captain Don Quixote said, “You listen to me now. You will not move, you will not speak. If you do, I will dishonorably discharge you, and you will never sail again. No one from your family will ever sail again. You are no one. Do you hear me? Do you hear me!”

I was so sad, scared, and confused that I just nodded. I didn’t understand why we wouldn’t help people in distress. Captain Don Quixote then unplugged the VHF headphone near me and went to the starboard side of the bridge, where the other VHF was still working. You could hear some other ships responding to the distress call and changing their course to assist. I could see on the radar that even a ship 10 miles in front of us had turned around to aid in the rescue. Captain Don Quixote was just focused on the radar. Then he changed our ship's course so we would be further from the ship in front that had turned around to assist in the rescue. He shut off our navigational lights. As time passed, the ship in front of us passed us by. Captain Don Quixote turned off his VHF. We remained in the dark and silence until the end of the watch. Near the end, he turned everything back on and walked over to me.

He said, “You will never speak of this to anyone. Nobody would even believe you because you are nothing. While I’m a Captain.”

Soon, the 2nd Mate came to the bridge to take over the watch, and I just slowly dragged myself to my cabin with my head down. I felt like some part of me had just died.

From the next morning, Captain Don Quixote became more involved with the duties on the bridge. His posture with his arms crossed at the back was like someone shoved a broom up his ass. His pointy beard was a disrespect to the legendary Don Quixote.

Captain Don Quixote walked into the chartroom on the bridge and said, “Cadet, where are we now? Show me on the map.”

I showed him the plotted position.

Captain Don Quixote pulled his pointy beard and said, “Hmm, for me to be sure that you know this basic stuff, show me how to plot a position.”

I looked at the GPS[2] to plot and he interrupted me with his hand and said, “Show me from the beginning and tell me each step. I saw you looking at thissss…hmm.”

He pointed to the GPS unit, and I said, “GPS.”

Captain continued, “Hmm, yes GPS.”

I said, “Ok, so first we take these numbers from GPS, then we look for them on the chart and where they cross, this is our position.”

I showed him and drew a position, but Captain Don Quixote had more questions.

Captain Don Quixote placed his finger on the map near the coordinates and said, “You read these numbers here. How do you know North or South?”

I gazed at him and showed him the indication on the map. It's not like we are in a starship so we can fly all over. Our planet is big and mostly you sail on the same shipping routes, mostly charter[3] routes. Captain Don Quixote tried to draw a position and failed.

Captain Don Quixote looked at the radar and said, “I don’t know who told you to watch this GPS, you could have gotten us killed. The real data is taken from the Radar.”

I said, “But Captain, this is the GPS main display and on the radar is the same thing. It can have multiple devices connected to it.”

Captain Don Quixote said with a firm voice, “No buts. I see you don’t know anything. From now on, you will take the GPS information from the radar, that is an order.”

I looked at him, my eyebrows almost touching my hairline, and said, “Yes Captain, I will take the GPS information from the radar.”

Captain Don Quixote said, “Good.”

Captain walked off the bridge, and soon after, the 2nd Mate came in to take over the watch. I told him how Captain Don Quixote acted very strange and asked me to show him how to draw a position, but he seemed like he didn’t know what I was talking about. I also mentioned the nonsense about GPS because that was the best part.