I work for a research company which recently deployed me and multiple other researchers to travel by boat across the sea from Miami to Peurto Rico. The reason behind this was for us to conduct research investigating fluctuations in the magnetic fields within the region of ocean in between these two points. This was because some boats travelling between Miami and Puerto Rico previously had reported spontaneous inconsistencies in their compasses. It was therefore hypothesised that there may have been magnetic fields localised to specific regions of ocean covered by the boats which produced these inconsistencies. If such magnetic fields did exist, they may have been the product of materials embedded within the rock composition of the ocean floor in the area. Our job was to complete a journey from Miami to Puerto Rico and, using the technology on our boat, take as many measurements as possible of the magnetic field strength of different regions we travelled through.
We set off from Miami in the morning and immediately began our journey without hesitation. I had previously been involved in various different fields of scientific investigation and as a result my experience was broad. The other researchers recruited in the team were also similarly experienced in a wide range of areas of scientific research. I therefore had no doubt of our ability to successfully complete the expedition while obtaining a more than sufficient quantity of measurements which would provide rich data from which detailed explanatory conclusions could be drawn. The boat would be stopping frequently in the midst of its journey for the purpose of such measurements being taken, as it was important that we maximised the use of our opportunities to obtain crucial information. Factoring in the additional expenditure of time generated by all the recordings that would be taken, we expected to finish the journey after a few days or so.
Upon the initiation of our journey, the first two nights were no different from how we expected them to be. We took frequent measurements, obtained good data and proceeded with the rest of our mission. We would wake up in the morning, get ourselves ready for the day, get a sufficient level of work done and then watch sunset occur upon a time period which could always be predicted using the time on our watches. After the show was over, we would close our eyes and rest until the next day arose. It was after the second night on the third day that things first became…strange. It actually began well. We all woke up feeling particularly energetic, perhaps more so than usual given our sleep patterns were no different from that of the previous two nights. We got on with our daily routine, getting our heads down and obtaining all necessary recordings for the day. After around twelve hours, we sat back, relaxed and waited for the sun to set. It didn’t.
Around a couple of hours ended up passing without the sun setting and that is when we first knew that something was wrong. A few more hours went by before the sun would eventually set, at which point we were exhausted. Our watches were now completely out of sinc with the day-night pattern, the velocity of which was completely different from that traditionally assumed by our watches. After the sun had finished setting and it was dark, we fell asleep and awoke around eight hours later, at which point the darkness still remained. The circumstances had made us all completely unanimous on the necessity to call shore-based authorities in order to report the situation we were in. The shore-based authorities of Miami would already have recorded our departure when we first began our journey and so it was the shore-based authorities of Puerto Rico which would have to record our arrival when such an arrival eventually took place. We decided it was therefore important that they knew first and foremost of the situation.
We essentially told the Puerto Rican shore-based authorities that we had, for some unknown reason, experienced extremely anomalous day-night patterns and this would likely confound our sleep-wake cycles and potentially delay our arrival. Their response sent chills down my spine. They said they would check with Miami shore-based authorities, but they were not yet expecting the arrival of a research team of our description. According to the Miami shore-based authorities, they were expecting the departure of a research team exactly like ours in around three days time. Given the multiple days our journey itself would take, that meant it would be around a week before we, or indeed anyone like us, were expected to arrive at Puerto Rican shores. My hairs stood up on the back of my neck as I attempted to digest the situation we were in. As far as the world back ashore was concerned, we didn’t even exist - we were on our own.
We had lost a significant proportion of our initial dedication to the work we had gone out there to do. There were too many questions racing through our minds as to just how absurd the circumstances we were under had become. My mouth was dry. We thought for a while and debated about whether we should continue in our direction to Puerto Rico. The reality of our situation led us to fundamentally question what direction we were actually heading in at all. If time could be distorted, then why not space? Whatever world we were in had become a delicate fabric on the brink of shattering and breaking us in the process. We decided not to alter the direction we were taking. We considered there to be a good chance that we would arrive at Puerto Rico sooner or later, but that did not prevent us from nonetheless second-guessing how wise the choice we made was. Had our journey initially gone as planned, we should have expected to arrive at our destination in around three more days from where we were. As a result of whatever absurdity we had been subjected to, it ended up taking us a week. We could only determine that from the ticking of our watches. In terms of what the sun had to say, we lost comprehension. It was tiring, and by the end of it, our watches were ticking twice as fast as the speed of the dawn-twighlight cycle. That was until we finally saw land in the distance.
It was Puerto Rico. We instantly became extremely attentive to the sign of any land at all, let alone our destination all along. What was initially meant to be between six and eight days became what must have been eleven or twelve, and we were exhausted. When we arrived, the Puerto Rican shore-based authorities were both startled and suspicious simultaneously. As far as they were concerned, we had only disembarked from Miami one day ago. We contacted our company, who had been informed by shore-based authorities of our reported circumstances previously. We provided them with the data we had obtained, even if it was incomplete. Everyone, including ourselves, the shore-based authorities and our company, was confused and disturbed by the nonsensical nature of the situation. We only got to use remote communication in order to talk to our company due to the fact that we were on the island and they were not. Nonetheless, they told us that under the circumstances the information we gave them was more than sufficient and that there was clearly something impossible to specify which had confounded our operation in some inexplicable way. The shore-based authorities showed a similar sentiment of understanding as they arranged for us to be flown back to Miami as quickly as possible. After arriving, we watched the plane as the pilot flew it back again, leaving us in the place from which we had initially begun our mission.
It was an hour or so after that in which I began writing this. I remain overwhelmed by an outrageously unexplainable situation the details of which are already fuzzy in my head. Anyhow, I will leave it here since I have a busy day tomorrow. I work for a research company which will be deploying me and multiple other researchers to travel by boat across the sea from Miami to Peurto Rico. The reason behind this is for us to conduct research investigating fluctuations in the magnetic fields within the region of ocean in between these two points. This is because some boats travelling between Miami and Puerto Rico previously have reported spontaneous inconsistencies in their compasses. It has therefore been hypothesised that there may be magnetic fields localised to specific regions of ocean covered by the boats which are producing these inconsistencies. If such magnetic fields do exist, they may be the product of materials embedded within the rock composition of the ocean floor in the area. Our job is to complete a journey from Miami to Puerto Rico and, using the technology on our boat, take as many measurements as possible of the magnetic field strength of different regions we will be travelling through.