Here, Bessie. Come on, Bessie. Come on. Go get your stick.
Chuck!
Come on. You ready?
- You all set? - Yeah, I think so.
It'll all be here when you get back.
I know.
You're not having second thoughts?
No. Why?
It's a year of your life.
And this Ocean Academy isn't recognized as accredited.
- By Yale. - By any Ivy League school.
You can't afford two of us at Yale or Brown
or any Ivy League school, anyway, dad.
Your brother got a scholarship, and you know you'd get one too.
I'm not him!
I just don't care about that stuff right now.
It'll be a good thing, dad.
- Here. - Thanks, mom.
- You have everything? - Yes.
- Passport? - I'll be fine, mom.
Why do you look so down? This is your dream come true.
- That's not why he's letting me go. - Of course it is.
No. It's because he hopes it'll look good on my record.
Well, either way, you're going.
Besides, he would've loved to have been able to do this.
- Then why didn't he? - He never had the opportunity.
It hasn't been easy for him, both his boys going off at the same time.
All right.
This is your bus ticket to Idlewild.
- Sir? - Just this one.
And this will get you from Idlewild to Miami.
- And this is your plane tIcket-- - Dad?
I'll be okay. Really.
- Make us proud, son. - Okay.
Today the adventure begins.
I've given up my last year of high school
to join the crew of the brigantine school ship, Albatross,
to sail halfway around the world and back.
Dad's made me promise to keep a journal.
It's like a chore, but it's part of the deal I had to make.
Because today, I leave the path that he had chosen for me
and instead take my own.
Albatross?
Yeah.
Robert March. Who the hell are you?
Gieg, Chuck.
Gieg Chuck? What are you, a native or something?
No, it's just Chuck.
Hey, Johnstone, I'm surprised to see you here after the old bowsprit affair.
- Yeah, well I'm back for some more. - Listen to this, man.
Romeo here was going at it with some local girl up in the jibsheet, right?
- After the deed was done. - Whoa, whoa, hey!
- He says they did the deed. - Trust me. We did the deed.
All right, man. After the alleged deed was done, they fell asleep.
Mr. McCrea walks on deck and hears casanova sawing logs.
He calls the whole crew on deck,
up goes the jib, and out roll Tod-o and the girl
naked as goddamn Adam and Eve, man, I swear.
Whoa! Here we are, guys. Home, sweet hell on water.
Let's go.
- I give you one dollar for every fish. - Oh, no, no.
What happened to it?
She cleans up.
We'll have her shipshape before she shoves off.
Come on.
"Now would I give a thousand furlongs of sea
- "for an acre of barren ground. - Oh, shit!
"long heath, brown furze, anything. The wills above be done.
"But I would fain die a dry death."
Remember? Hello, Robert.
Excuse me, sir, but what's that supposed to mean?
It's Shakespeare, Tod. 'The Tempest', Act 1, Scene 1.
- I suggest you read it. - Yeah, and why is that?
Because it's the song you'll all be singing when we put out to sea.
Arbedar!
Arbedar.
Oh, geez, man. I forgot about him.
So, where are you from, Robert?
- Callfornia, man. Here, have a smoke. - Thanks.
How're you doing? Robert March.
Dean Preston.
- Hi, my name is Gil Martin. - Hi, Chuck Gieg.
That's my brother.
He's dead.
I'm going to take this one.
Well, in case you haven't noticed, it's already been taken.
- What's wrong with that one? - What?
I'm sure it's just as comfortable as this one is,
but, you know, I get nosebleeds, so...
Does anyone have a problem with that?
- Do you? - Absolutely not!
Okay, guys, listen up.
Shay Jennings, flrst mate of the Albatross.
This here is Dr. Alice Sheldon.
I'm ship's surgeon.
I'm in charge of your aches and pains.
And I teach blology, math and science.
Gerard Pascal here is the ship's cook.
You want to keep all your fingers, huh?
Stay the hell out of my galley,
unless you're invited and you have clean hands.
Some of you already met Mr. McCrea.
And in case you haven't figured it out, he teaches English.
So, when the heck do we get to meet el capitan, huh?
Maybe he's getting his wooden leg waxed.
- Skipper on deck! - Hello.
On your feet, gentlemen.
Come on, let's go!
Martin.
Preston.
Johnstone.
Lapchick.
Get rid of it, March.
Dowd.
Flamberg.
Burrows.
Gieg.
You're gonna wanna lose that.
- Who'd I miss? - Beaumont, sir. He's not here yet.
The ship beneath you is not a toy,
and sailing's not a game.
The Albatross will take us far, gentlemen,
but she demands constant attention.
Respect that, and we'll do fine.
One more thing.
Nothing happens on this ship that I don't know about.
She speaks to me in the night, so don't test me.
Not even a little.
"No man is an island, entire of itself.
"And therefore never send to know for whom the bell tolls.
"It tolls for thee."
John Donne.
I'll see you on deck. Let's go!
All right!
Come on, roll out, sailors! All hands on deck!
60 seconds. That's one minute, Johnstone.
Go, boys! Faster, faster!
Go, go, go! Faster! Come on, run, run, run!
All right. Guys, line up single file, please. Single file, single file.
Okay, everybody, swim!
Come on, guys, I'm not joking. Into the water.
I'm not joking, boys. Come on, into the water. Let's go!
Let's go! Everyone! Go, go, go!
Hey, Preston, what's the matter now?
Come on, man, everyone swims.
I don't.
You will if you want to eat.
You gonna swim for your breakfast, you little weasel?
Go for it, man!
- All right. - Come on, you sissy, go!
Let's go, you little monkey.
Come on, Shay!
Move it, you maggot!
Show them what you're made of!
- Yeah! - Nice dice!
Not too bad.
All right. I've been in twice.
So, what's it gonna be?
I've got five bucks that says he doesn't.
- I got ten says he doesn't live. - I'll take a dollar of that.
- Jesus! - I can't watch this.
Ay!
Skipper on deck!
You know what's out there?
Wind and rain and some damn big waves.
Reefs and rocks and sandbars.
And enough fog and night to hide it all.
So, why the hell do it, then?
Builds character, Mr. Preston,
of which you are in desperately short supply.
The kind you only find on mountaintops and deserts,
on battlefields and across oceans.
Nice dive, Preston.
If we don't have order, we have nothing.
"Where we go one, we go all."
Some of us are here for discipline, some for escape.
And the rest don't even know why.
I'm not sure where I fit in,
but l can see a small piece of myself in each of them.
I think I'll have friends here, and I hope this will be home.
What are you looking at?
Why'd you jump?
'Cause I felt like it.
It was so high, you know.
Let me tell you something.
As soon as you grow some balls, doughnut,
let me know, and I'll tell you all about it.
I thought it was a pretty stupid stunt myself too.
What was that?
You heard what I said.
Don't ever call me stupid.
He didn't mean it.
Let me tell you girls something.
I do what I wanna do when I wanna do it,
and I don't give a damn what some ahab up there says otherwise.
Oh, that's a big bear, man!
Well, if it ain't Howard Hughes come to fly me home, boys.
There you go. That's it.
No, use your whole hand, your whole hand.
What's the matter with you? The other way!
Ahoy there!
Good afternoon!
Albatross, huh?
Doesn't lnsplre a lot of confidence, does it?
On the contrary, the albatross is considered a very good omen.
Legend has it they embody the spirits of lost sallors.
Only bad luck if you kill one.
I'm not interested in legends.
Francis Beaumont. That's my son behind you, Frank.
- Frank. - Sir.
You're a day late. We keep a schedule aboard ship.
Lives depend on it.
Your cable said you would not be putting out until late October.
As you can see, there's a lot of work to do.
Indentured servitude is not what my son had in mind.
This is a working ship.
Promptness is not a luxury, it's a necessity,
as is the work to maintain her.
Your son will do his part, if he wants to stay on board.
I'll be honest with you. This was his mother's idea.
A romp through the Caribbean on a sailboat
sounds more like a holiday than an educatlon, if you ask me.
It will be more than that, I can promise you.
All right.
You take good care of my son.
He'll need a hand with that. It's heavy.
- Well, Frank. - We'll do our best.
Take him below, Shay.
Sing along. Go!
You got it. He's got it. Atta boy!
Keep moving up.
Look up when you're going up. Not so fast, Frank.
That's it!
Keep your arms straight, shoulder length.
Okay, now I want you out on these spars,
but I don't want you to release the gaskets until I tell you.
That's good. Just keep your back inside the backrope.
Okay, now remember, these are sails.
They can shift, they're not locked.
- Avast hauling. - Over.
Stop!
Gentlemen, when you hear an order, shout it out!
I want to know you've heard and understand.
- Set the main. - Set the main!
Set the main!
- Set the main! - Main!
Heave! Heave!
Shay! Skliper! Skipper!
Get him!
Get him! Somebody, get to him!
Excuse me!
Come here!
Put your feet up here.
All right, come on.
Watch yourself now.
- Okay, take it easy. - Are you all right?
- Yeah. - Huh?
It was my fault. I was...
I was reaching for the...
Why didn't you climb up there, son?
Speak up.
'Cause he's afraid to climb.
ls that true?
Shay, why wasn't l made aware of this?
It's your job to know.
lf something goes wrong up there, the other 16 people on board
can't be wondering, if he's going to do his job or not.
- Swing up, son. - What?
Up you go, right now.
- You got something to say? - No.
Then keep your mouth shut!
It takes disclpline to make it out here.
There are no special cases.
Now, what's it gonna be?
- I'm sorry. I'm sorry. - I'm sorry's not gonna cut it.
Now, get up there! Get going!
That's it.
One hand in front of the other, son.
We'll do it together.
And don't look down. You look in my eyes.
Look in my eyes!
Climb.
Come on, we'll do it together.
- I can't. - You climb, damn it!
Yeah, that's it!
You're hating this? Huh, are you?
I hate you, you son of a bitch.
Good! Good!
Hate your way up another rung.
Do it right now!
All right, all right.
All right, come down.
- Oh, God! - Stay there.
You're all right. That's it.
Come on.
That's it, it's all right.
- It's all right. - I'm sorry.
I'm only going to say this one time.
I'm not here to wipe your noses and your asses.
I'm not your mother. He can take care of himself.
Are there any other phobias I need to know about?
- No, sir. - Excellent!
Shay, find Mr. Martin a positlon to suit his conditlon.
And remember something.
Sooner or later, we all have to face it.
Hey.
We're awfully quiet tonight.
Something on your mind, Gerard?
I think you were too tough on Martin.
- You do, huh? - Yes, I do.
They're green, all of 'em, and full of themselves.
That's a dangerous combination.
- He pissed on his pants. - Mmm, and all over me.
What do you call that, humiliation training?
Because I'm pretty familiar with psychological theory.
- The point is-- - There's nothing I've read...
Because what you do, you traumatlze the kid.
- The point is! - And you--
We're as strong as our weakest link.
I don't want to find that out the hard way.
So,I will challenge them as will you,
and they will come together.
And I don't care lf they like me or not.
Does that apply to the staff, too, sir?
I'll tell you what, Gerard.
I'll stay out of your galley, you stay off my poop deck.
We'll get along fine that way.
Otherwise, it's going to be a long ride.
I want a head count when they're in the racks.
We're putting out in the morning. Good night!
Good night, skipper.
- Good night, Alice. - Good night.
I've seen him snatch the tail of a tempest
and stuff it screaming into a bottle.
The bilges are full of 'em.
McCrea, what do you mean by that?
He's been beyond the reach.
He'll do well by us all, Gerard. He's a real salt.
Got one for me?
No, these I paid two dollars for Havana.
Oh, yeah!
How're you doing?
Look, I appreciate, you know, your concern and all,
but, like skipper said, I can take care of myself.
I know.
I just brought you a coke.
I feel like I got you into this.
Forget it.
My own brother and I used to...
climb to the top of this old beech tree in the backyard
and watch the sun go down just like this.
My parents, they'd... fight a lot,
so we'd sneak out there where we couldn't hear 'em.
Do you believe I miss it?
I mean, all the crap I had to put up with at home and I'm still homesick.
Well, I wouldn't worry.
I'm sure they'll have some fight left in them by the time we get back.
That's a fact.
And so it was that after weeks of training
with the hurricane season behind us,
the Albatross took to the open sea.
In each of us were feelings of excitement and hesitation for the man at the helm
and the unfamiliar world he would be leading us into.
Gieg.
Come here. Take the wheel.
Come here.
Hold her steady into the wind, southwest by west.
Yes, sir.
Holding her steady southwest by west, sir.
# In South Australia 'round Cape Horn #
What's wrong, Mr. McCrea?
Seems like we're short on singers, skipper.
Everyone sings aboard a windjammer, gentlemen.
Lets everyone know you're in sync.
It shows unity, that all thoughts are one.
Besides, I like it.
# Heave away, you rolling kings Heave away, haul away #
# Heave away, you'll hear me sing #
We'll bear off to port and run downwind.
Okay, Mr. McCrea, stand by to ease the main sheet.
Robert, get on the jibsheet. Four guys to go along.
Fall off to port, ease her around to a heading of northeast.
- Sing out when you're there. - Yes, sir.
All right, stand by to loose the squares.
- Northeast, sir. - Speak up, boy!
- Northeast, sir! - Loose the squares!
Loose the squares!
All right, loosen those gaskets.
All the other sails up. What's taking so long, huh?
Keep your eye on the pennant, Chuck.
lf you jib now, we'll have people in the water.
Yes, sir!
Storm at sea!
All stop on the engine.
Behold the power of the wind.
Skipper, the crew is doing group boot over the side.
All right, keep it over the side. That's it.
Come on, Okay.
Whoa, boy, watch your step.
Should we turn away?
You can't run from the wind, son.
You trim your sails, face the music, and keep going.
This guy's certifiable.
No, he's suicidal, man.
We won't have any crew left, skipper.
Excellent point!
How'd you like to have to bet on Tracy here getting us home today?
Each one of you is responsible for the rest.
It's up to you.
Nothing like a little experience to put things in perspective, huh?
I want you all to make sure your gear is stowed.
McCrea, your team will stand watch. Everyone else hit the rack.
Hey, skipper...
Listen, I'm not staying out here, okay?
Robert, take his place.
Robert, I got an idea.
Why don't you help me swab the decks?
Stand by to go about.
- Oh, god! - Watch yourself. Get in your bunk.
Checked out.
- Harden up the main staysail. - Aye, skipper.
Harden up the main staysail.
Jesus! Skipper, skipper, the jib's blown out!
Bring it in and run up the storm jib. Stay out of reach of the blocks!
Haul on the down haul.
Let go of your sheets. Hold on to your clews and blocks.
Well, we're in it now.
Look out!
- What do we do? - Block and tackle!
I'll go to block and tackle. Robert, here.
- Hold on, Dean! - I'm going in.
Get him. Easy over, Alice.
- Hold her steady! - Holding her steady, sir!
You all right?
Hang on, Dean!
More line!
Hold on!
Grab the line!
Now the ladder.
All right, take it.
Come on in, Dean. Swing around, all right?
Come on. Are you all right?
There you go. There you go, okay.
You all right?
Nice dive, Preston. You all right?
Now you got something to write home about.
Leave my wife alone, and go in and get warm.
All right, let's bring her in and run up the storm jib.
Come on, let's bring the storm jib up. Let's go!
- Nicely done. - Thank you, sir.
You're enjoying this.
Yes, sir.
The seas lasted 16 hours.
And when we weren't throwing up, it scared the hell out of us.
Skipper never left the deck, not once.
I think he loved every minute out there.
He's strong, tough, and he won't take no for an answer.
But he makes you want to please him.
I wonder if we'll ever live up to his expectations.
Help me!
Hey, Gil, wake up, wake up, wake up!
Hey, hey, easy, easy, easy.
It's okay.
You're okay.
- I was falling. - It was just a bad dream.
- It was so real. - Here's the thing.
Whenever you're having a nightmare like that and you can't get out of it,
all you have to do is say, "One, two, three, wake up."
"One, two, three, wake up." That's it.
And you just come out of it.
- Who told you that? - My dad.
It's the only good advice he ever gave me.
ls that how he died?
He fell out of the beech tree in the backyard
and broke his neck.
I was on a camp out away from home.
They must've been going at it,
you know, throwing things, pushing.
A real knockdown .
They didn't find him until the next morning.
They didn't even know why he was up there.
You never told them why he was there?
I couldn't.
Remember, be back by 7:00 p.m.
We got a shallow reef to cross, and I'm not going to wait.
I could go for that in a heartbeat.
Yeah, man, that was a matched set for sure.
You're gonna be paying for it, because she's a professional, boys.
Yeah? How do you know that, huh?
'Cause I know, man. I know. Now believe me, I know.
I'll tell you who's got some nice ones.
- Who? - Who?
Dr. Alice Sheldon, that's who.
Oh, yeah? How do you know that?
Dogwatch, night after the storm, I'm looking in the skipper's skylight.
and there they were, doing the nasty dance.
- And you just happened to be standing there? - What'd they look like?
What?
You know, her... hooters.
Oh, come on, man. You sound like you never even seen a pair.
- Shut up, I've seen 'em. - Oh, yeah!
Well, even considering that she's 30... boner city, fellas.
No foolin', man?
But, serlously, what'd they look like for real though?
- You're a damn virgin, aren't you? - No.
Come on. Give me what you got. What you got there? Tod?
- Here you go. That's a dollar. - Tod?
- A dollar from Robert. - Let's go.
Yeah, all right.
This isn't enough. Come on, this is pathetic.
You got something, Beaumont?
I'm not gonna spend my money, so Gil can get his cherry broken.
- It's your daddy's money. All right. - Come on, man!
All right, daddy's boy, daddy's boy. Hold that, Gieg.
We're gonna spin for it then, just to make Mr. daddy's boy happy, all right?
- Yeah, let's spin it. - All right?
Here you go.
Winner gets a 15-minute honeymoon.
Gather around.
All right! Go get 'em, tiger!
Hey, man!
- I got seven dollars. - You must be in a hurry. Come on.
Come on.
- Money? - Oh, right.
Wait here.
Okay. Okay.
Hey, Frank, what's taking you so long?
Come on! We're waiting on you, brother. Let's get outta here.
Hey, Frank!
Hi, baby.
What you waiting for?
Whoa, whoa!
- Hey, what happened? - What?
Nothing happened, all right?
Why not? Oh, I don't know. Let's see, let's see.
Perhaps because she was older than Moses?
You still owe us 7 bucks.
You set me up, all right? You set me up!
Don't look at me, buddy. You're the one with the...
See you later, limpdick!
Oh, I ran outta there.
I turned and ran, and slammed the door behind me.
My parents don't do it anymore.
They don't. I swear. They don't. My parents don't do it anymore.
They tell you that?
No. I figured it out.
What time is it?
- What time is it?! - Oh, shit, man!
- Where is it? - Jesus H. Christ!
You guys, we're screwed!
I knew we shouldn't've gone. I knew it.
Shut up! You sound like my sister.
How the hell do you idiots...
- ...suppose we're going to get out of here? - Shut up!
We'll think of something. We'll think of something, don't worry.
- Oh, yeah? - Yeah.
I feel so much better now that you're here,
because lughead over here's gonna think...
No, no, no, no!
Dean!
Yes, Chuck, nice!
Up! Up! Come on!
Get up! Let's go!
Come on, get up! Let's go, let's go, let's go!
Skipper!
You know what a loose cannon is?
A couple of thousand pounds of pig iron crashing around the deck in a storm.
Maybe take out a mast, punch a hole right through the hull.
Send a man-of-war straight to the bottom.
People are like that sometimes.
Before you know it, they're punching holes in everything.
I'm thinking of shutting this whole thing down.
I can fly you all home from Grenada.
It's gonna be new years by the time we hit port.
I want a tight ship.
I want them all shaved and in clean clothes when we get there.
We have an obligation to host a cruise
for some Dutch students there.
Each one of you is going to be responsible for a student.
I expect you to be courteous and thoughtful.
lf everything goes well and your test scores are acceptable,
I might reconsider.
All right. That's it. Get them on board, McCrea.
Right, skipper.
All right, come on, shake it off. What happened, huh?
Unlike that of the soviets since the end of world war Il,
demonstrates that we have no desire to dominate or conquer
any other nation.
Johnstone, what do you say l have a crack at the wheel there?
Negative, twerp.
And you still owe me two bucks.
...and become adjusted to living daily on the bulI's-eye
of soviet missiles
located inside the U.S.S.R.
or in submarines.
In that sense, missiles in Cuba
add to an already clear and present danger.
Although it should be noted
the nations of Latin America
have never previously been subjected
to a potential nuclear threat.
But this secret, swift extraordinary build-up of communist missiles
in an area well-known to have a special and historical relatlonship to the United States
and the nations of the western hemisphere
in violation of soviet assurances,
and in defiance with american and hemispheric policy...
15 minutes, gentlemen. 15 minutes.
Where're you going?
- To take a piss. - Oh, really?
Yeah. You wanna come in and shake it for me?
What are you doing?
You were cheating.
- I don't want to listen to this. - Yes, you do, stupid!
You get caught cheating, your ass is on the first plane back to Idiotville.
Cut it out! Cut it out, Dean!
Cut it out!
lf Frank had caught you, he would have ratted you out in a second.
Listen to us!
You get caught cheating and you're off the boat!
I cheated to get on the boat, damn it!
I doctored the grades, so I could make the cut.
I'm a moron, all right? Are you satisfied now?
You're not a moron, Dean.
Bet?
It takes me half a day to get through one chapter of McCrea,
and I still don't have any idea what he's talking about.
Why it takes me so long to write all those papers?
Because I can't spell.
They even kicked me out of vo-tech, because I couldn't read a slide rule.
That's right.
I could show you how to read a slide rule.
What the fuck?
How long have you been standing there?
Long enough.
I'm never gonna pass the boards.
I'll tell you what.
You don't cheat anymore,
and we'll make sure you get the grades.
Okay? We'll start our own private study group.
Nobody else knows. You'll ace that test.
I'm in.
Me too.
Why would you guys do that? You guys don't have to do that.
Because, man, we...
We got a hard-on for you, pansy.
Whoa!
- Oh, no, wait a minute. - What do you got? What do you got?
Whoa!
- What, what, what? - All right, fellas!
We got women.
Yes! Yes!
Hold your head line! Slack your spring!
Midships.
Take a turn on the stern line.
Get the heaving lines ready.
Stand by the fenders! Go on, get up there.
Ready the line for the port side.
All right, all right, all right.
Be calm, gentlemen. Be calm.
Slack your spring!
Goddamn...
Good morning, ladies.
Good morning.
All secure alongside. Finish with engines.
Finish all engines.
One thing, though. What are we supposed to say to 'em?
Are you serious, man? Come on, get in the game.
- Get in the game. - They don't even speak english, Dean.
Well, there are some things
everybody does in the same language.
Yeah, how are you supposed to make the first move?
Well...
Be bold.
How're you doin', ladies? Dean Preston.
- Mrs. Jensen? - Jensen.
- Welcome. - Yes.
The girls have been looking forward to this for some time.
- Hello. - Hello.
- This is my wife Alice. - How do you do?
Shay, help these ladies on board.
I think we're going to have a wonderful sail tomorrow.
You might have your girls dress, you know, casual.
Thank you, captain. They will.
This is Gerard, our chef.
Welcome!
Ladies, this area of the ship is the bow.
This is the foremast and the foremast fife rail with pins,
holding lines we use to control the sails along the foremast.
There are sheets used to set the sails,
and there are clew lines used to haul the sails back in.
Every line along the fife rail serves a specific purpose.
The ship beneath you is not a toy, ladies.
Respect that, and we'll all do fine.
lf you'll follow me this way.
So, one full turn of the wheel is indicated by the kingspoke,
which is this right here...
Ladies!
The wheel, all right?
Then... That's...
And she was a woman!
Keep it up, Frankie. Come on.
Ahoy there!
Surprise! Surprise!
Frank!
Oh, Frank!
Well, well! What do we have here?
Good afternoon, captain.
This is my wife, Mrs. Beaumont.
- Hello. - Hello. Pleasure to meet you.
We thought that we would drop by and see if you were all still in one piece.
And of course we are.
Well, you never can tell, can you?
What can we do for you today?
Oh, we just thought we'd give our little boy a break from the monotony.
It's not monotonous.
Nevertheless.
Now, come on! Hop to, boy! We haven't got all day.
What's this?
All right, gentlemen. Best behavior, please.
We sail with the tide. That's 6:00 a.m, sharp.
Are you listening to me?
Tracy, what time are we leaving?
- 6 o'clock. - All right.
Have a good time, but don't be late.
Thanks, dad.
- Please come in. - Thank you.
It's magnificent.
It's got lots of rum in it.
Frank!
Hey! What's wrong?
You don't like steak?
I should be eating with the crew.
Well, you're not. You're eating with us.
So, sit up, humor me and eat your steak.
- Why did you come here? - Why am I here?
We missed you, sweetheart.
Why in the Sam Hill do you think I'm here?
We just wanted to check on you. That's all.
Stay out of this.
I don't need you spying on me.
- Spying? - Frank!
Thanks a lot, son.
- I can take care of myself. - Oh, really?
I can't wait for that, son.
You put me on this stupid boat in the first place.
I didn't want to go, but I did.
- Why do you have to embarrass me? - Shut up!
- Why can't you just leave me alone? - Frank!
You come outside with me.
- But, Francis-- - Stay here.
It's all right.
Frank!
Get your hands off me!
- Settle down. - Francis, let go of him.
Let go of me!
Francis, just...
Take your hands off of him!
Francis, you're hurting him! Now, stop it!
You hear me?
And don't you dare ever talk to me like that.
Francis! My god!
My god!
Now, Frank.
Frank!
Oh, Christ!
What is the matter with you?
You wanna dance?
Yeah, yeah.
I can't ever remember feeling this way about myself,
or a place, or someone like you.
We've come such a long way and we've seen so many things,
but... this is...
What?
I'm not so great at expressing myself.
And maybe the only reason I can do it right now
is because I know you don't understand a word I'm saying.
Right.
Roger Maris steps up to the plate!
It's a corker down the pipe!
It's outta here!
Frank, what's going on? Frank!
Come on!
- It's a corker down the pipe! - Frank, what's going on?
Frank! Frank, what the hell are you doing?
It's outta here!
Talk to me. Tell me what happened.
I just don't cut the mustard.
Let's go.
I don't hold up under scrutiny.
Chuck!
- Gieg! - What?!
Oh, you...
Double-time it, man. Frank's in trouble.
I gotta go. I'm sorry.
I'll see you.
Come on.
Tod, come dance.
One, two, three, four.
Hey, buddy, how're you don'?
You know you're gonna work for me someday.
Frank, why don't we go? Why don't we go?
Let me go! I was invited too, man!
- Look at these guys. They're homos. - Frank, we're gonna go.
Get off me!
I'm fine, all right?
- Frank, stop doing that! - What are you guys, homos?
Hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey! We gotta go. Calm down.
lf you don't calm down, I'm gonna have to hurt you.
It's okay. It's okay. We got you.
Get him up.
Get him outta here.
Do you remember the last time you and I danced?
And you're gonna tell me again anyway.
It was on the deck of the Yankee
the night you asked me to marry you.
I wasn't much older than they are.
- Shall we? - I don't wanna.
Okay.
May l?
Don't slip, captain. Your students are watching.
Gotta get my sea legs here.
Coming about. You ready?
I'm ready.
You know, Sheldon, sometimes, not often, you act almost half human.
I am halfway human.
Look at those two over there.
"Much have I traveled in realms of gold.
"And many goodly states and kingdoms seen
"'Round western islands I've been,
which bards in fealty to Apollo hold."
Do you know what he's talking about here?
Ah, humllity!
He's saying he has traveled the seas as Homer did,
as Ulysses before him.
"That deep-browed Homer."
Brilliant, seasoned, wise of the mind.
He commands the voyage of the imaglnation,
like a god.
Piss on Homer, sir. We're livin' it.
That's the spirit, Dean.
Dolphins off the stern!
Dolphins! Okay, come on!
Come on! Look, there's one over there!
Beautiful!
- Oh, wow! - This is incredible!
Oh, she's beautiful!
What the hell, guys?
What happened? What's going on?
Guide her alongside. That's it.
All right, ease her away.
- Bring the nose up onto the sled. - Okay.
- Dean, watch the spear. - All right.
Haul away.
Easy. Easy.
Tighten it off, Tim.
All right, ease away.
Easy.
Keep it coming.
What do you think?
He's punctured her lung.
Nice shot.
Finish it.
Man, I'm not gonna kill it.
You already have. Go on, do it.
No way.
What the helI's wrong with you?
Back off, man!
You wanna kill something so bad?!
It's just a fish! It's just a fish!
Come on, let's see what you've got!
That's what I thought.
You're done here. You're going home.
The guy's gone ballistic, all right?
I'm telling you, he's gone mentally insane.
It's like cabin fever or something like that.
All right, man. Enoughm enough. It's still not right.
They shouldn't be putting him off the boat.
- Look, the guy's outta control. - We've all been out of control.
But we're a crew. No, wait, wait.
That's what this whole thing is supposed to be about.
Yeah, you're the last person that should be whining about us being a crew right now.
Oh, yeah? And how do you figure that?
Well, I'd love to go into the subject of vertigo and everything,
but I wouldn't want you to go and piss your pants.
You know what I'm sayin'?
- Oh, yeah, Stacy? - Yeah.
Come on!
Get... Stop it!
You're a real jerk, you know that?
Tell it to the dolphin, Preston.
He deserves another chance.
We'd do the same for you, you know that.
You do whatever you want, Gil, all right?
It's not gonna make any difference anyway.
- The dolphin was a symptom. - Of what?
Of a fight he can't win out here.
- But, sir, it's his father. - It's his father, sir.
Oh, it's his father.
He sent him down here. All of them.
They sent us down here,
because they want us to change or grow up or something.
And all they do is try and keep us the same.
I mean, he has all these expectations
about who his son should be,
and he doesn't even know who Frank is.
How do you think you got here?
Do you think they owe you something?
Do you think they enjoy riding subways and commuter trains,
the same repetition day in and day out
just to keep you in tennis shoes and private school?
You know, there are ground rules in families
just like on this ship.
You can understand that.
Does Frank know how you guys feel?
I don't know.
Well, somebody should tell him.
That's it.
Well, I'm all ears.
You may not like what you hear.
Oh, I can take it.
Chris, they've become what we wanted.
They're a crew. That's why they came.
Do you remember why we began this?
Self-reliance and discipline to the community of sailing.
- I haven't forgotten. - Mmm. Community.
That boy doesn't know the meaning of the word.
So, the best thing you can do is to keep him right here.
He has a lot of problems.
Well, he better start to learn to deal with them.
Oh, captain compassionate speaks.
It's not about compassion.
It's not about what happens here.
It's about what they take away with them.
- He was coming around. - He was coming apart!
He lost control out there!
And what is so important about being in control?
He's just gonna have to figure that out, isn't he?
I'm not talking about him.
We watched in silent protest.
Aboard ship, the low morale was matched only by the feeling
that maybe skipper was no different than our own fathers back home.
We'll miss Frank.
Jesus!
Yeah, I'm... sorry.
Frankie!
Bye-bye!
Bye, Frankie!
Bye, buddy!
They never gave up on you, you know.
Bye, Frankie!
I got a problem, man.
We all have problems.
No. A big problem.
I'm pissing fire.
Fire?
Fire.
Had a good time in Grenada, did you, Tod?
Yeah. I did, actually. Thanks for askin'.
Turn around.
Hold that.
Next!
Robert! Drop your pants.
Way to go, Valentlno.
I never even copped a feel in Grenada.
Yeah, well, your sexual orientation is not my problem.
What do you make of it, skipper?
"Venceremos".
Cubans.
I'll get the horn.
Jesus, she's got guns!
Get down! Everybody down!
Run up the colors.
We're Americans, damn it!
- Shay! - Run up the colors!
Jesus Christ! Are they gonna sink us?
- Take in all sail! Do it now! - Sails down! Get going! Go on!
Here's the horn, skipper.
Who the hell do they think they are?
They want us to identify ourselves.
Tell them we're the american school ship, Albatross.
Use your best Puerto Rican accent.
They think we're carrying cuban refugees, captain.
I don't think they're going to take it very lightly that I'm a cuban national.
Nothing's going to happen.
Remind them that according to the Geneva convention
firing on citizens on the high seas is an act of war.
They say they're acting on the direct order of Fidel Castro.
Tell them to come aboard.
Do it, come on!
- Give me your passport. Give it to me. - I don't think--
Come on, do it!
You've come a long way, gentlemen,
but this is no time for heroes.
I need you to be boys right now. That's an order.
Get below, find your passports,
bring them on deck.
- All right, let's go. - On the double!
Let's go find those little bits.
On deck right now! Come on, get your stuff! Go, go, go, go!
Don't worry. Nothing's gonna happen. Come on!
Preston, got it? Let's go. Get outta here.
- Trace, come on! Trace! - Damn it!
- What? - I can't find my passport.
Oh, no!
What is this? Is this your stuff here?
Jesus, what a...!
Come on, we gotta go. Come on!
- Don't worry about it. Let's go! - I can't find my passport!
Now, damn it! Come on!
He's Puerto Rican.
You know, captain,
playing cat and mouse is not very smart.
Not for the mouse.
Do you know you're violating international law by boarding my ship?
But you invited us.
That's bullshit, man!
Your cannons made a compelling argument.
It's okay. He's got one.
- I've got a passport. I swear to god. - Stowaway?
He left his passport in Grenada. It's being mailed to him in Panama.
I left it last time we boarded.
That is unfortunate.
We'll have to take him with us.
- No! - No!
All right, all right, all right.
lf he's Cuban, Castro wears a dress!
All right.
Now we've seen what you can do with a boy.
How would you like to go a few rounds with a grown-up?
None of my crew is leaving this ship.
7th cavalry.
What are you looking at?
You want to take a souvenir, you take me.
All right, that's it. Let's move, gentlemen.
Now you will really have something to teach your students, captain.
Las estrellas es lo unico que un marinero necesita para navegar.
What'd he say?
He says a real sailor only needs the stars to navigate with.
And so he guided us silently through the convoy of warships.
And we later learned they were bound for a little-known destination
called the Bay of Pigs.
As we rode the trades, he shared the ancient secrets
of how to read the waves and follow the stars.
Panama and the Americas rose and fell away again.
With the locks of Miraflores and a continent behind us,
we entered into a new ocean and a new world
that we would stake and clalm as our own.
All right, pens down.
Time's up. Leave your papers.
Congratulations, gentlemen.
All hands may go ashore, if you please.
- You're on your own. Be careful. - Yes! Yes!
Buzzer's gone off, Dean.
We had traveled over 6,000 miles
and slipped past the equator to the very edge of the earth.
Like Darwin before us, we would see the bliss of nature
in the absence of man.
It was as if the albatross had taken us to another time.
Today I finally understand Homer. The journey's the thing.
There should be a pencil in there.
Hold that.
"Where we go one, we go all.
"Brigantine Albatross.
"1961."
That about says it all, huh?
- Get in there, guys. - Chuck Gieg.
Tod Johnstone.
Gil Martin.
Dean Preston.
Tracy Lapchick.
What are they doing?
Claiming their place in the world.
Why didn't you go?
- I couldn't. It's my watch. - Mm-mm. I could've stayed.
Listen, you hear that?
What?
The sound of an empty ship.
How're you doing?
Okay. How'd you do?
730 verbal, 610 math.
- Congratulations. - What about you?
It's 1100!
Dean, you got an 1100! That's great!
- I know. - You know?
I just can't believe it, you know?
I couldn't have done it without you guys, though.
- I really couldn't. - You did.
This is you, Dean.
All you. Nobody else.
Thank you.
You're welcome, stupid.
I'm just testing.
When are you gonna learn, you little wise ass?
- Here. - Thanks.
Feels different, doesn't it?
What?
Going back.
I don't want it to end.
I don't wanna be what I was when I left.
What was that?
Anonymous.
I've been acing tests my whole life
and I still haven't figured it out.
Figured what out?
Who I am.
Are you kidding?
I'll tell you who you are.
Glue.
You're the glue that holds everyone around you together.
Think I'm gonna choke on the "feel good".
...on this pilot. He needs help.
There goes the umbilical cord from the Redstone rocket.
How are you, Robert?
We're into the two-minute point,
and at this point in the spacecraft all the interior cameras are started.
Two minutes and counting.
Everything is working fine at the moment.
The radio mikes are now on in the space capsules.
- Shepard can talk to control. - Here we go!
- Good luck, huh? - One minute and 30 seconds to blast-off,
if no further holds bother us at this point.
The Mercury control count of the last minute you will hear in just a moment,
but I notice that the cherry picker is being moved through,
and we are coming up to...
- The morning watch? - We are coming up to...
- Below. - ...the final countdown,
which you will hear in ten-second breaks.
We have just passed the 92nd mark.
The cherry picker, the safety device...
"If you can keep your head
"while all about you are losing theirs, and blaming it on you.
"lf you can trust yourself when all men doubt you,
"but make allowance for their doubting too."
Morning watch is on!
"Yours is the earth and everything in it,
"which is more, you'll be a man, my son."
okay!
You have fun.
Sweet dreams, Martin.
The air has been cut off.
It is now automatically isolated from the rest of the atmosphere.
It has its own.
The test conductor in the space control center has taken over.
Bill, Bob, Tim, Charlie, go aloft!
Get those latches closed!
Morning, Shay.
Hey, Tracy.
- Would you trim the main, please? - Trimming the main!
- North by west. - North by west.
Get out of here, Bob. Let the real men take over.
- Looks like we're gonna get wet. - Yeah, we need it.
I'm gonna take a nice long bath, catch some water for my laundry.
Save some for me, will you buddy, huh?
Yeah. Yeah, you got it.
Going below!
Everybody okay?
All hands, keep out of the rigging!
Stay clear of the masts!
All right, gentlemen. Thor's had his fun.
Let's keep a sharp eye.
We're coming up to countdown, which goes in five seconds.
No, Shay! Dog her down!
- Stay out of the rigging! - Dog her down!
Batten down all hatches!
Skipper!
White squall.
Hold tight!
Shay!
We're losing it!
Turn it over!
Look out!
...agonizingly slowly...
Get outta here!
Help!
No!
Tod!
Tod! Tod! Turn to port!
Turn to port! Turn to port!
No! Starboard! Starboard!
- No, Tod! Port! - Port!
Port, damn it! Turn to port!
Look out!
Leave it, Tod! Get out!
Back! Back!
Come on, Tod. Grab on!
Grab on!
Come on!
Gil, come on. Let's go. Let's get outta here.
Now, Gil! Come on!
Come on, let's go.
Everybody out! Keep moving!
We've lost her!
- Free the staysail. - Yes, sir!
- Free the staysail! - Grab a lifeboat.
Skipper!
Come on, out! Out this way!
Get out!
Anybody in here?
Hey!
Get them outta there.
Shay!
Gerard!
Shay!
Gerard!
Alice!
Get back, guys! Get back! She's gonna roll!
Get in the lifeboat, now!
Hold on.
Gerard!
- Dean! - Yeah! Yeah, over here.
Sahler! Marsh! Gil!
- Gil! - Where's Gil?
Help!
One, two, three. wake up.
- Where's Alice? - I think they're inside.
Come on!
No! Stay back! She's rolling!
She's down there!
Gil!
Skipper, I'll try forward.
Gil!
Gil, you gotta get outta here. She's going down!
There's something down there blocking the door!
Get me out of here, Chuck. Come on, get me out, please!
Come on, Chuck. I want out.
Gil, Gil, I can't move it. You gotta push harder.
Gil, push from your side! Gil!
Gil, push harder from your side!
Chuck! Chuck! Chuck!
We gotta go, Chuck! Come on!
She's going down. Come on, Chuck! Let's go!
Gil, you've gotta push from your side.
No, Gil!
Chuck, we've gotta go!
Help me get this door!
It's too late! It's going over!
Skipper, it's too late!
- We can't stay on. - Get off the ship!
Get them in the boat!
- Do it! - All right, skipper.
Oh, please!
Dean!
Gerard, Alice, Dean, Gil.
Today I hate the sea.
It will never look the same again.
Look.
Shepard.
Skipper! Skipper! Skipper, look! Look!
McCrea!
Captain Sheldon, can you give us a statement?
What the hell went on out there?
Do you have anything to say to these parents?
Yes, and it's private.
- Son! - Dad?
Thought we'd find a store.
Get you fixed up then... get you something to eat.
Sound good?
Hey! Your size right on top. Here.
Why don't you take these in the back there and see how they fit?
Ma'am, do you have boxer shorts?
- Right over there, sir. - Okay.
Come on! Chuck, grab my arm! Grab my arm!
Chuck, you okay in there?
I'm sorry.
We'll be right back for the clothes.
- They'll try and take his license. - Why?
'Cause they need it to be simple.
They need a reason.
- Who? - All of them.
Everyone on that dock.
So, what are we supposed to do?
Tell them what we know, the truth.
- I mean, that's what he'd want. - The truth!
We went over in a squall. What's wrong with that?
Everybody knows why we went over, Tod.
It wasn't from the squall. You jibed the boat.
Look, I was trying to get her upwind, all right?
I mean, that's what you're supposed to do!
That's not what the skipper thought.
Not when you got the squares up.
He was trying to spill out the air from the main.
It was coming four poonts off the bow, Tracy.
It never would've gotten--
Were you on the deck?!
Because I was standing right there!
And all I know is that Tod disobeyed an order twice!
Look, it didn't--
That's when the boat went over.
It didn't go over until I turned her port!
Man, you're all missing the point, anyway.
This is because of Frank.
Frank and dear old dad.
What are you talking about?
I'm talking about, they're here, staying at the damn Rhett House.
I mean, how do you think this thing got put together so fast?
The old man's been out for skipper since day one.
The skipper booted his kid off the boat!
What did you expect?
I told you he was a turncoat the day we kicked him off, man.
Damn kid!
Frank?
Frank!
Can we talk?
Yeah, I guess.
What are you doing here?
Frank, who are you talking to?
Yeah, it's all right. I'll be in in a minute.
What do you want?
Everyone's saying that...
that this whole tribunal is happening because of your old man.
And because of you.
Is that true?
It's just typical, isn't it?
- Well, is it true, Frank? - I gotta go.
Frank, he was not out on that ship!
And he doesn't know what happened. Frank, you don't know what happened!
- I know enough! - Frank, please!
Frank, get him to call it off.
I'm sorry.
Wait.
What is this?
You do what you've gotta do, Frank.
The United States Coast Guard
has been asked to conduct this maritime hearing
to consider the revocation of captain Christopher Sheldon's
U.S. master seaman's certificate.
All right, captain Sanders, you may begin.
The Albatross.
By all accounts, a sound vessel.
An experienced captain, an able crew.
And yet it lies out there on the bottom
in 2,000 fathoms with its back broken.
There are serious questions that demand our most serious consideration,
so that we might understand, so that perhaps
we may prevent such a sad event from ever taking place again.
A freak accident?
A one in a million meteorological anomaly?
Or was it inexperience? Misjudgment?
Negligence? We'll see.
Please.
- Thank you. - Captain, Sheldon...
Captain Sheldon, would you consider yourself a good judge of character
when it came to the boys?
Yes.
And it would be important, would it not, in your position
to have some sense of their strengths and weaknesses?
Yes, of course.
Do you recall an incident involving Gil Martin?
What incident would you be referring to?
Well, is it true that you forced Gil Martin to climb the mast
when it was clear that he was acrophobic?
He climbed when he was ready.
Were you aware that his brother was killed in a fall?
Yes, I was.
sir, were you aware at any time of the use of alcohol among your crew?
Yes, I was.
- You didn't do anything about it? - No, I did not.
Had you ever seen a white squall before this incident?
No.
And what makes you so sure it was one?
I can't be sure.
You really felt that your crew was up to the conditions?
we had come 12,000 miles together through every kind of seas imaginable.
Except a white squall.
Now, with all due respect, captain, they're only boys.
They're much more than that, sir.
ls it true the reason you expelled Frank Beaumont--
For killing a dolphin.
And that you invited him to strike you,
to fight it out on the deck of the ship?
Yes, that is true.
So, you allowed the use of alcohol, among other things, to go unpunished
and yet you expelled this boy for killing a fish.
- A mammal. - A mammal.
It would appear to me sir, with all due respect,
that your stewardship as captain of the Albatross
could be characterized as reckless, unbalanced,
with no discipline whatsoever.
Do you find this funny?
Some kind of joke?
I don't think one second of this is funny, sir.
The national weather service says white squalls
are a meteorological phenomenon of the imaglnation.
What do you say to that?
What happened to my ship was not imagined.
It was not a dream, sir.
No, captain Sheldon, it was not.
It was a nightmare.
Now, Shay, I need you to help me out.
On the day of the accident,
do you remember where you were when the lightning first struck?
I was on deck. Midships.
During this squall that ensued,
why didn't you drop any sail?
Skipper called us out of the rigging.
But your instinct was to lose sail?
Skipper's instinct was to not get any any of us electrocuted.
How old are you, son?
15.
And you were the first mate of the Albatross, is that correct?
I am the first mate of the Albatross. That's correct.
And are you a professional sailor, son?
No, I'm not a professional sailor.
You say you turned hard to starboard when the gust hit.
I thought we'd have a better chance, if I headed into the wind.
But the captain ordered you hard to port.
- Twice. - I'm sorry?
Twice!
Is that what you were trained to do?
No.
Speak up, son. I can't hear you.
I said no.
And what did you think he was trying to do?
Put her off.
To let the blow drive the boat downwind.
By the "blow" you're referring to the force of the storm, is that right?
Let the blow drive the boat downwind,
and neutralize our canvas.
So when the captain gave you an order contrary to your training,
you thought he was making a mistake.
No.
Then why son?
Why didn't you follow his order?
Because...
I panicked.
You know that's not true, Tod!
Do you believe he panicked?
What the hell is he doing?
Quiet, please.
Maybe you can't see what's happening here, but I can.
Tod, I appreciate what you're trying to do here.
Maybe you could live with it, but I couldn't.
lf you think I'm gonna let a 17-year-old take responsibility,
then you underestimate me.
The Albatross was my ship. The Ocean Academy was my school.
Her responsibility is mine and mine alone.
I can't bring your sons back.
If you want my ticket, if that will ease your pain,
that's the least that I can do.
- This, this is easy. - Captain sheldon!
- Captain! - No.
- Order, please, order. - This proceeding is not over, captain.
- I still have further questions for this witness. - No.
Order!
Don't you walk out on us, skipper! You don't!
You tell me, was it all just a lie?
Was it? Because we listened to you, we believed you!
And we are still here!
Bad things happen sometimes,
and there's nothing that you can do about it.
It wasn't you. Or Tod. It wasn't you, Tod.
It was all of us, everyone in this room.
Because we all knew the risks we were taking going out there.
You paid our tuition, and you told us to go.
So, why do we just have to invent some reason now for why this happened?
Just pin it on one person?
Why?
Then shame on you, skipper. Shame on you!
Mr. Gieg.
I was in command of the Albatross.
And I was responsible for precious cargo.
It was my job to get you all home safely
with my knowledge and my skill.
That's the contract that I made with your parents.
But something happened out there. I lost control.
Maybe just for an instant. Maybe all along. I'm not sure.
But I know this. I never saw it coming.
It was like I just woke up, and a hand came down
and pushed my sails into the sea.
It got away for me, the whole thing.
And people died.
Now, you're young and strong.
Everything's ahead of you.
You told us, "where we go one, we go all."
Well, we believed you. We lived by it, sir.
And now you're saying that where you go, we can't follow.
Mr. Gieg.
The Albatross wasn't just a ship or a school.
It was something that we made.
Something that's inside of us.
That's who you are, skipper.
What you gave us. You carried us.
Now, let us carry this together. Let us carry this together.
Let it go. Just go home.
They didn't take his ticket today.
But I wonder if he'll ever go to sea again.
I know one thing.
If he did, we'd all go with him.
To a man. No doubt. Not even a question.
Today he joined the circle he created by allowing us to share his burden.
The burden of sea captains and fathers,
the burden of men.
In the end, it just comes down to one thing.
You can't run from the wind.
You face the music, you trim your sails, and keep going.
♪ She's the dark star over the sea ♪
♪ Go where my true love is waiting for me ♪
♪ Rode the south wind, canvas the stars ♪
♪ Harness the moonlight, so she can safely go ♪
♪ 'Round the Cape Horn to Valpariso ♪
♪ Red the port light, starboard the green ♪
♪ How will she know of the devils I've seen ♪
♪ Cross in the sky ♪
♪ Star of the sea ♪
♪ Under the moonlight there she can safely go ♪
♪ 'Round the Cape Horn to Valpariso ♪
♪ Valpariso ♪
♪ Though every road I walk will take me down to the sea ♪
♪ With every breath of promise in my sack ♪
♪ Every love will always send the ship of my heart ♪
♪ Over the rolling sea ♪
♪ If I should die ♪
♪ Water's my grave ♪
♪ She'll never know if I'm damned or I'm saved ♪
♪ See the ghosts fly over the sea ♪
♪ Under the moonlight there she can safely go ♪
♪ 'Round the Cape Horn to Valpariso ♪
♪ Valpariso ♪
♪ Valpariso ♪♪