Today was the seventh day since the Li family's pioneering fleet, led by little Annie, had left Basra in the Persian Gulf and headed south.
At first, they had spent three days reaching the island at the mouth of the Gulf of Aden. They rested for a day at the port of Socotra, taking on some essential supplies and buying plenty of fish, fresh coconuts, coconut oil, and other provisions. Then they had set off south along the African coast.
As they gradually approached the equator, the crew soon noticed that the weather was getting hotter and the sun more scorching. The air seemed to swell under the heat, making the other ships in the fleet look hazy from the deck, even though they were not very far away.
There was barely any wind here, either. The Li family's fleet of swift clipper ships had spent three whole days and nights sailing through these waters, yet they still seemed unable to leave. Reaching their intended destination was even further out of the question.
This was the Equatorial Doldrums, a zone near the equator where winds in the lower troposphere were weak or nonexistent and shifted direction frequently.
In the belt extending five degrees north and south of the equator, the sun shone almost directly overhead throughout the year. It was the hottest region on Earth by average annual temperature. Since temperatures were relatively uniform across the area, the horizontal pressure gradient was slight, so air currents mostly converged and rose. As a result, winds were weak. This was why the region was called the Equatorial Doldrums. For sailing ships of this era, it was one of the most frightening hazards at sea, and a region to be avoided whenever possible.
However, the Li family's pioneering fleet had to head south