Funeral Waves:
The Captain shouted into the rain with all the ferocity his weary frame could muster.
"Hold! The darkness is set about us, and the sea is set to swallow! We must row on, backs breaking into each stroke. Row on because no other life or comfort awaits us. Brothers! Survive! The sea and the dark may take us, but we will, before eternity, out-row all storms!"
At sea, he imagined himself as a lion in a world of lambs – too strong to be denied his wishes and whims. Unconquerable by all except time. Now an old man, he knew this voyage was set for nowhere, gathering his money and men for a fools' errand.
He knew the treasures he promised were nothing but folklore and posturing, but he didn't care. He wanted to die on the sea as a captain, a leader, rather than on land as a drunk and whoremonger.