The Americo Maltese Tripts To The Flat Earth.

Before leaving the port of his beloved Buenos Aires, Americo Maltese checked all the equipment that he had to carry on his long journey. An error or omission could mean death. The fragile ten-foot sailboat had been overhauled to death. The tiny converter from salt water to drinking water, the box of hooks, the dried vegetables, the first aid kit and other items, had been grouped in waterproof boxes, duly marked and attached with a system of rails and clips on the bow of the boat. The navigation instruments were, fortunately, reduced to a GPS that was perfectly adapted to navigate the flat earth monitored by the only existing satellite.

Years ago, since governments had been sincere with citizens and confessed that the Earth is not round, but flat, and the stars are suspended in the highest part of a no-pass bubble.

Americo christened his ship BRIGANTIA in honor of the Celtic goddess Brigidh who protects sailors. he had ventured with the small sailboat in inland seas and in coastal voyages, since no one, since it was known that the earth was flat, dared to move away from the coasts. This was the challenge of his life, to reach the very edge of the planet and return to tell it, if he could.

The safest thing was to follow a west-east route, opposing the Sun in the morning and moving away from it in the afternoons. He would realize the proximity of the abyss when the Sun looked very close and became very hot, since the Earth being a plane, the king star would be very close to the surface when entering the abyss.

In this way he was faced with a journey that was going to be warmer each day during the mornings and colder during the afternoons, with noon being the time when the Sun is farthest from the center of the plane of Gaea. To think that we always believed that, being spherical, the Sun warmed more at noon...

Having planned it this way, he set the sails, set the rudder, took the hull into the water and once there, inserted the dagger board.

Once in the water, he hoisted the mainsail high enough to take advantage of the breeze and out of the harbor. No one was there to say him goodbye, as lack of funds had prevented him from gaining press attention.

One of the television channels offered him coverage only if he declared that he was homosexual. Americo Maltese had nothing against homosexuals, but by not sharing his likes it did not seem right to lie.

Thus he rose to the sea and fought against currents and sea storms, suffered deprivation, especially hunger and cold at night. Finally, he saw that he was approaching the abyss. The sun in the morning raised dense clouds of vapor when being so close to the water and vision was difficult.

- Behold, - said the sailor to himself - this must be the origin of the sea fog.

And he noted: “Maritime fog seems to form when the Sun approaches the abyss, either at dusk or dawn, so the fog must always come from the east or west. Conclusion: the fog coming from the southern Antarctic or northern boreal, does not exist. "

Thus it was that he began to write one of his greatest works: THE ORIGIN OF THE SEA MIST, which, when published, became the bible of navigators.

Since then, anyone who claimed that the fog came from elsewhere or was formed in another way, was declared ignorant and expelled from the professional fields. The age of light had arrived.

This was the beginning of Americo Maltese's voyages in his sailboat Brigantia through the seas of the Flat Earth. Great adventures were to happen and discoveries to be discovered; but that's another chapter...

In memory of and thanks to the great writer and cartoonist Hugo Pratt, creator of Corto Maltese.