Doldrums - is a zone near the equator where the rising hot air creates calms and variable winds, together with thunderstorms, the zone of equatorial calms. There are two areas of doldrum calms - one in the Atlantic Ocean between the west coast of Africa and the north east coast of South America, and the other in the Pacific Ocean off the north west coast of South America. In the days of sail, ships were often delayed in these areas; the most famous being the Pinta, Nina and the Santa Maria, the ships of Christopher Columbus, which were becalmed in the doldrums during their famous voyage. The expression "in the doldrums" means to be in low spirits.
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