Pi talks about how he was on the boat for 227 days.

Pi begins assessing the lifeboat's

contents and making use of what he discovers after the other animals die (except Richard Parker

of course. He views thirst as his worst threat, and drinking water is both his, and Richard Parker's

top priority. With the lifeboat's supplies able to support him for a while, he realizes that he must

ration and make plans for needs that go beyond what he needs right now. Also, he gradually

changes from being a devout vegetarian to a hunter and a carnivore out of necessity. Initially

complaining that the food on the lifeboat contains animal fats, he soon starts butchering and

devouring fish and sea turtles mindlessly. Though it isn’t like he had a choice. In the lifeboat

with Richard Parker, Pi must also face the realities of attempting to survive with a tiger on board.

He carefully weighs his choices before deciding that he must keep tRichard Parker alive. Pi can

only prevent being murdered and eaten by the tiger by taking care of him. So, Pi's whole

concentration shifts to devising a means of ensuring that Richard Parker can also eat, drink, and

rest in addition to himself. Pi builds a raft out of the lifeboat's oars and life jackets as his first

move toward achieving this aim, tethering it to it and starting to live on it, keeping Richard

Parker, who is still in the lifeboat, at a distance. Pi writes a journal, but rarely records personal

thoughts. He has a strict routine every day to preserve his sanity, humanism, and self-respect.

After finding a bottle in a collection of trash, he records his experiences on a small piece of

paper, seals it in a container, and throws it into the water to hopefully reach someone. Pi devises

a plan to train Richard Parker, both to protect himself from the tiger and to mark his territory, not

Richard Parker's. He lays out a training plan in a series of steps, all of which rely on Richard

Parker's seasickness and an orange whistle Pi discovers in the lifeboat. Pi uses them both in a

form of aversion therapy, rocking the lifeboat and blowing the whistle to make the tiger seasick.