My first night watch was from 2-4am this morning. A little activity out on the dark ocean, saw two boats and using the radar and AIS, avoided any chance of collision. It amazes me how vast the ocean is and still we have to worry about hitting someone. As I switched shifts with Runyon I noticed a dolphin jumping on the starboard of Ghost. We clamped into the safety jack line and went up to the bow of the boat. There were three happy dolphins playing with Ghost, cutting across her bow, swimming just under and in front of us. With the big yellow moon over head, we watched the clear, shimmery outlines of the dolphins. It is the closest I’ve ever been to one. Every now and then the dolphins would jump out of the water and take a deep breathe in. This went on for about 20 minutes then the dolphins had had enough and swam away. Runyon went to bed and I settled into the my short watch. I struggled to stay awake, my eyes were still scratchy with sleep and the dark sea and soothing waves didn’t make it any easier. I keep my brain function by stretching my stiff legs and constantly watching the horizon for on coming ships. By the time Ivy switched with me, the over cast sky had moved into the moon and blocked all the light. I was glad to snuggle into my bunk, no one else saw any boats all night.
In the morning, Runyon got a hold of Parker, our weather plotter in Georgetown. We still had little to no wind so we cranked up the motor and have been on the move since 7am. Since the main sail took a beating yesterday, flopping all over the place, we took the time today to make some repairs. Runyon, Debby and Ivy stitched up some small rips in the main sail to prevent them from getting any bigger. I couldn’t reach that high so I sat back and watched as they did all the work in my line of expertise, which was a little weird. The lower life line on the starboard side had come loose and the pin holding it in place disappeared. I felt handier once I fixed it and secured it in place using double cotter rings. We need to be able to relay on our life lines to take our full weight.
On a personal note, I am still constantly drowsy and the queasy feeling has only gotten worse as we entered into the Gulf Stream since we have some strong waves against the stern of the boat. I’ve got 1/2 a patch behind my left ear which is keeping my meals down but in combination with the sun makes me pass out on deck every now and again. I am religiously wearing Blue Lizard sun screen which has saved my skin from burning. I could sleep all day on deck in the warm breeze under an awning with the sun and shade moving over my skin. If I spend more than 10 minutes below, I feel the need to run up on deck into the fresh air.
We’ve made it in and out of the Gulf Stream. The temperature of the water is 82-83 degrees. The water color has change from deep navy blue to a heavenly, vibrant indigo blue. The current is working 2 knots against us and we aren’t moving very fast. We’ve noticed that there is a large unraveling about midway down the genoa sheet. We need to take it down but no one is in a huge rush to do so. The genny is still stretched out as is the main. We’re moving 4.7 knots SOG (Speed Over Ground).
Through out the day we’ve watched for boats and sea life, looking at the various lit up screens telling us where we are going, how off coarse we might be. We’ve been reading books and playing sudoku and I’ve being busying myself with knitting samples.
It’s almost 9:30pm. My watch tonight runs from 8-10pm, then again from 4-6am. Not a single thing out here that I can see but the nearly fully moon. The moon was beautiful this evening as a barley noticeable pink globe emerged from the sea, as it rose it turned crimson orange and has faded into a lovely yellow.
First Mate: Ivy
Debby
Runyon updating Nick with our location via satellite phone
No comments:
Post a Comment