Cussler's "Trojan Odyssey"
Robert Ginn
question. I'm reading the "Trojan Odyssey," ostensibly by Clive Cussler. It was my understanding
that Mr. Cussler was (or is) something of a marine expert, having located several wrecks and done
some marine archaeology. If that's the case, how is it that the "Trojan Odyssey" is so full of
mistakes, from a nautical point of view, that it appears to have been written by someone who never
got any closer to salt water than, say, Nebraska?
To wit: Early on, as Hurricane Lizzie is rapidly developing off the west coast of Africa, a
watchstander in NUMA's hurricane center reports to the NWS that Lizzie is developing rapidly and
moving "due east." A couple pages later, it is acknowledged that the hurricane really is "moving
at a record pace westward across the ocean," but reports of the hurricane moving east, or
continuing east, are repeated a couple more times. It's as though someone else wrote the text for
the activities of the hurricane center, and no one proofread it.
As Capt Barnum of NUMA's SEA SPRITE decides to head into the storm because he can't outrun it, he
directs she be brought "around on a heading of eighty-five degrees east." Every sea captain I
know, and I know many, would have said to come to 085 degrees. Had Capt Barnum wanted a heading of
275 degrees, would he have commanded a heading of eighty-five degrees west? I doubt it. Compasses
aren't marked that way.
There are several other ludicrous statements and situations, some involving the hurricane hunter
Orion P-3, which I'll skip, but one really stands out. After damaging the bow of the POCO BONITO
by ramming an Odyssey yacht, the POCO BONITO eventually makes it into port. I quote, "The repair
crew that was flown into Barra Colorado had beached Poco Bonito at low tide and were working
efficiently to make her seaworthy for the voyage north." Need I point out that if you beach a boat
at low tide and begin repairs, you will soon be getting very wet as the tide begins to flood.
Perhaps the range of tide in the Caribbean is minimal, but it is apparently significant enough to
be able to identify a low tide, meaning there must be a high tide, too. Absurd.
The story is implausible but fun to read, except for the obvious textual errors (or lack of
knowledge on the part of the author). I wonder if anyone with an ounce of nautical knowledge ever
read this novel before it was printed. It surely doesn't appear so.
Bob in Alaska
