The document summarizes two sea voyages transporting precious cargo across the sea. The first captain ignored advice from experienced crew members, resulting in problems obtaining proper supplies and weathering a storm. As a result, much of the cargo was damaged upon arriving at their destination. The second captain planned extensively with his experienced crew. He took their advice, ensuring proper supplies and preparations. This allowed the second ship to safely transport its full cargo despite encountering the same storm.

1. The Sea Voyage
By Bobbi Beyer
Once there were two great sea captains who were given the tasks to
transport a great and precious cargo to a great land far across the sea.
These captains had been chosenfor this voyage because of their great
skills and ethics. Each captain was given a great ship to use and a crew
that they knew just a little bit about. Neither captain was familiar with the
sea route.
The first captain gathered his crew, loaded his ship and took off sailing
immediately. He had all of his officers meetin his cabin to plot the course
they would take. He didn’t worry much about the rest of the sailors
because they were a hardy lot that had been on many a sea voyage. His
crew should be up to the task at hand.
The first ship had about a couple of days advantage on the second ship.
Things were going ok until one day the crew noticed that their water was
running low. This information was passed up to the captain who
assembled his top officers in his cabin to decide on where they would go to
restocktheir supplies. There was much discussionwith very little decision
being made. Each officerhad his own idea of where to stop and restock.
Finally the captain had to make the final decision. He would stop where his
senior most officerstated.
As they approached the island recommended by the senior most officer,
one of the sailors on deck commented that it would be a mistake to stop
here as this island didn’t have a good source for fresh water. The captain
and officers ignored the sailor, because this man was perceived to be a
trouble maker, and took a party ashore to collectthe water. Upon filling
their barrels, the party returned to the ship and the voyage continued.
A month later, one of the crew noticed that their food was going bad due to
improperstorage and they needed to get new food. Again the captain
gathered his officersin his cabin to discuss the situation and after a long
meeting; a plan was made to stop at the next island. Upon arrival at this

2. island another sailor on the deck commented that it would be a mistake to
stop here as this island didn’t have the right type of food needed forthe
journey. The captain and the officersignored this sailor, because this man
was perceived to be not experienced enough to known this kind of
information, and took a party ashore to gather up whatever kind of food
source they could find. After gathering up all of the meat they could find,
the party returned to the ship and the voyage continued.
A couple of months later, there was a sickness that had crept across the
ship that was starting to weaken the sailors. From across the horizon the
sailor, located in the crow’s nest, spotted a bad storm rapidly approaching
the ship. This sailor alerted the captain below, who gathered up his officers
in his cabin to discuss what actions that crew would take to weather out this
storm. After a brief discussion,the crew was called to the deckand each
man was assigned a task.
The storm was a fierce one. Big waves crashed across the deck and
tossed the ship to and fro. From the hold, there was the sound of the cargo
sliding around the floorwith some boxes being hurled to the floor. Because
of their weakened condition from drinking bad water and not eating the right
kind of foods, the captain, his officers and rest of the crew had a tough time
keeping the ship from sinking and keeping the precious cargo safely intact.
Finally the storm subsided and the ship limped into the harbor, many days
ahead of the second ship, all battered and torn with only a portion of the
precious cargo intact.
The second captain gathered all of his crew and met with them before
loading the ship and sailing off. From speaking with all of his crew, the
captain learned that the course they were about to take had many
challenges and rough spots. His men that were familiar with the pitch and
roll of the ship gave the captain ideas of how to safelystore the cargo. His
men that were familiar with the length of the journey were able to point out
the islands that were along the way where they could restock their food and
water supplies and what equipmentthey would need to do so. His officers,
many of whom had served many years on the deck as sailors, were able to
give advice about what kind of storms to expect and how to prepare for

3. them. After all the planning was done, the captain had his crew load the
ship and they took off.
One day a memberof the crew noticed that the water supplies were
running low. The captain assembledhis men who were familiar with the
islands and had these men chart which island they would land on to restock
their water supply. One of these crew members,although he had been
known as a slacker, was very knowledgeable about which island had the
bestfresh water source. Aftertaking his advice, the party went ashore,
filled up all of their barrels and returned to the ship to continue the voyage.
About a month later, a memberof the crew noticed that the food supplies
were running low. The captain, again, assembledhis men who were
familiar with the islands and had these men chart which island they would
land on to restock their food. One of these crew members was a young
man who had been on only two sea voyages before,but had grown up near
these islands and was very familiar with what foods to gather. After taking
his advice, the party went ashore and gathered up not only meat sources
but also fruit sources. After filling up their barrels, they returned to the ship
to continue the voyage.
Two months later, a crew memberin the crow’s nest spotted a bad storm
that was rapidly approaching the ship. This crew memberalerted the
captain below. The captain quickly assembledall of his crew that were
familiar with the storms of this sea and gave them the assignments that
they had agreed to before the voyage started. Some of this crew went
below the deck to make sure the safety measures that they had used to
secure the precious cargo was still intact. The other crew members quickly
gathered the supplies they would need to help keep the ship afloat. The
captain had full confidencethat his ship would weathered this storm
because his men were strong from the fresh water and good food sources
and the skills and planning his men had made before they embarked on
their journey.
The storm was a fierce one. Big waves crashed across the deck and
tossed the ship to and fro. The crew, in cargo hold, was able to maintain

4. the security of the cargo through this long battle. The rest of the crew had
been divided into non-essential crew and the essential crew. The non-
essential crew was sent to quarter on the deckbelow the top deckfor
safety from the storm. The essential crew, that had beenassigned to work
on the top deck, was able to keep from being swept overboard by the
safety rope that had been quickly secured all around the deck. Finally the
storm subsided and the ship, though a little battered from the storm, was
able to sail proudly into the harbor with its precious cargo intact.
The crew from the second ship praised their captain for getting them safely
through the journey. The captain returned their praise with his own words
of wisdom:
“Men, this journey would not have been made possible without each one of
you. This precious cargo, both men and supplies,were able to survive the
challenges because of our skills and actions.”