John couldn't believe his ears: "Trek? He looked around blankly, and everywhere he looked, there were only a few dotted white clouds except the blue of the sea and the sky, and nothing else.

"Damn the Storm!" Carlos was indignant.

Carter advised: "Anger doesn't help, the most important thing now is to figure out where we are!" ”

"What about the compass? You should always know the direction, right? John asked eagerly.

"Sorry, the compass is broken." Rand shrugged helplessly, "If you know the direction, you won't be able to get lost." ”

"Won't it?" Carlos's whole person was not good, and he pointed to his wrist and said urgently, "You soldiers, can't you use your watch to determine the direction?" ”

Determining the direction of a watch is not a difficult task, and there is more than one way to do it.

One is the method used in the northern capital, which Ye Han learned when he was a recruit, and there are two mantras: the number of hours is half a pair of suns, and the twelve refer to the north.

That is, at six o'clock, the three-point scale is aimed at the sun, and the twelve points to the north; Six o'clock is eighteen o'clock in the evening, and the sun is pointed at nine o'clock, and the twelve o'clock scale points north.

There is also a common method in the West, in which the bisector of the hour hand and the 12-o'clock scale is aligned with the sun, and the 12-o'clock scale points south.

These two methods are straightforward, easy to learn and easy to use, and as long as you have a mechanical watch, you can determine the general direction.

Rand showed his bare wrist very regretfully: "It's a pity that I can't find a watch on this ship, and this place is very close to the equator, and it is difficult to judge the direction by looking at the sun." ”

Carloston was deflated like a popped balloon.

"If only there were magnets, you could make a simple compass." John scratched his salty hair, distressed.

"That's right, magnet!" Carlos shouted, "Is there a radio on board?" ”

"Nope!" Rand shook his head.

"Is there a walkie-talkie?"

"Nope!" Rand still shook his head.

"Is there a radio? Is there a ......?"

"No, not at all!" Rand shook his head resolutely, "I've rummaged through the entire ship, and I haven't found a single magnet!" ”

Carlos' eyes widened in surprise: "How is that possible?" ”

Rand pointed impatiently to the cabin: "If you don't believe it, you can find it yourself!" ”

John said, "The pirates have dismantled everything on the ship that can be dismantled. ”

Carlos was completely speechless at this point, but he quickly raised his head again and looked at Carter with hopeful eyes: "Dr. Carter, you should have a way, right?" You're a doctor! ”

Carter smiled bitterly: "I'm a biology person, not a doctor of physics, I know what electromagnets are, but there is no electricity on the ship, and it's useless for me to know." ”

John asked, "Isn't there any electricity left in the battery?" ”

"The battery is long gone." Rand said.

Carlos spread his hands: "I can't think of a way at all." ”

Carter looked up and squinted at the scorching sun, "If only there was a solar panel." ”

John said, "Why don't you search it again?" Especially in the engine room or something, the generator or other is the engine, there should be a magnet in it, right? ”

The sailboat was a yacht and had its own engine room, but the equipment in the cabin had been so dismantled by the pirates that it was almost an empty shell.

"Then look for it again." Carter unequivocally agreed.

"Good!" Rand agreed.

Modern equipment is inseparable from electricity and magnetism, and such a large sailing ship should always leave something that can be used.

So the group went back into the cabin and split up to look for magnets, and while John didn't forget to mobilize the crowd and tell the others that they needed magnets.

Before John finished speaking, a wormman stood up: "It's not easy to ask for magnets, isn't there a whistle under the bow of the ship?" ”

John almost jumped up and immediately called Spade over and had him hoist under the bow of the boat to see if there were any magnets.

It only took a few minutes for Spade to climb up, with an electric horn in his hand.

The magnet was found, and the big and small leaders led by John gathered together again, and John himself rubbed a piece of wire on the magnet a few times, passed it through a plastic sheet to increase buoyancy, and then rested it in a coconut shell filled with seawater.

The magnetic needle floated on the water with the help of the buoyancy of the plastic sheet, slowly turned half a circle, and quickly stabilized!

Everyone was overjoyed, but Carlos had a question that made everyone's laughter freeze on their faces: "Which side is south and which side is north?" ”

John waved his hand: "You don't need to know so much detail, find a direction to go!" ”

At this, he looked up at the sun, and then at the shadow left by the mast, and suddenly said, "No, how can the sun move counterclockwise?" We are in the Southern Hemisphere! ”

Everyone was stunned, and if you think about it, the sun's trajectory is indeed different from before.

"How so?" Carlos almost didn't pull his hair out, staring at the sun and then at the sea in a daze, and his whole body was lost.

John smiled wryly: "Our luck is too good. ”

This is not nonsense, the location of Buha Island is very good, there are large islands in the east, west and north directions, only the south is a gap.

No matter where the storm blows the ship, there will eventually be an island waiting for you, except for the real sea to the south.

Carter said: "The most important thing now is to determine where we are! ”

"I'll do the math!" "It's almost noon, it's just the right time!" ”

John and the others didn't understand what Rand meant, and when Rand took action, everyone suddenly realized.

Rand's approach is very simple, first measure the height of the mast, then measure the length of the shadow, calculate the angle between the sun and the ground through trigonometric functions, and then take into account the factors of the month, and finally arrive at the location here about 14 degrees south latitude.

Carlos's eyes were straight: "Bucha Island is 4 degrees north latitude, and now it is 14 degrees south latitude, and the storm has pushed us a full 18 degrees latitude?" 18 latitudes...... Well, the radius of the Earth is more than 6,000 kilometers, 6000 times 0 times 3.14...... Divide by 360......"

Rand rolled his eyes helplessly: "Do you need to be so troublesome, the circumference of the equator is 40,000 kilometers, divided by 360, a latitude is 111 kilometers!" ”

"Oh my God!" Carlos was dumbfounded on the spot, "Nearly two thousand kilometers? Where the hell are we? ”

Rand said: "If I'm not mistaken, this should be not far from the north......"

At this moment, Spade on the mast suddenly pointed to the south and exclaimed, "Look, land!" ”

John and the others looked at each other, is it such a coincidence?

But life is often more coincidental than drama, and before long, the coastline rises from below the surface of the sea, and everyone cheers and rejoices.

After six days and six nights of torment, it has finally come to an end!

Soon after, the sailboat washed up on the beach, and John was the first to jump off the boat, laughing wildly and kneeling on the sand, kissing the sand excitedly, and vowing never to go to sea again in his life.

Since then, more than 60 zergs led by John have taken root in northern Australia and started a difficult road to survival in the gap between humans and aliens.