18.41.30 N
046.41.45 W
21.09.08
1130 utc-3
s/y nina
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it occurs to me that the expression 'at sea' is also akin to the expression 'out to lunch.'
the second of two consecutively mostly satisfying watches. i slept rather very well between them. we've been sailing roughly 6 - 7.5 knots since yesterday evening sometime. that nice wind that we were expecting has come through. watch is usually the good part regardless, and night watch doubly so; it's a better time when the boat's not continually at a threshold of 'time to get an engine on - not enough wind.' when it's at that liminal zone, attention to the instruments is more important and more tiring. as there is the potential for misreading the data. as i am aware that i much prefer sailing to motorsailing, i am aware of a tendency to pretend that the boat is actually doing better than our minimum when it might not be. and then it's also important to be sailing when it's possible to. more than once i have had to answer for the boat doing 4.5 knots for 30 seconds in a row when skipper is looking. never mind that it was doing 5 or 6 knots when he wasn't. the data in the liminal zone is open to interpretation. regrettable that this raymarine setup does not have a graph of wind speed over time like flying cloud did. that makes things real straightforward.
that'll surely lead to trouble.
a difference in interpretation leads unfortunately to sharp criticism. it's still my belief that it's important to have minor errors from time to time.. that the skipper's tendency to twitch / micromanage / vent / otherwise behave unreasonably be indulged in a harmless fashion. it also helps if occasionally said twitchy unreasonable person makes a minor gaffe and is reminded that we're all flawed and imperfect humans from time to time. there was that thing of always behaving as though you are right, while maintaining an awareness that you're not always right. right? different than behaving as if you're always right. right?
~ hammerhead shark. brownish or tannish colour. 6-8 feet. bumbling along off to starboard and then aft. the briefest of opportunities to see one. unmistakably a hammerhead.
~ exciting meteor. one two three... luminiferous trail in a massive line in the night sky. a bog pop and a bright flash. the pop was inferred and not heard.
~ a fly.
~ the absence of airplanes. this is the mostly empty part. there was some amusing commentary during dinner yesterday:
/ (pointing out the window, excitedly): "a ship!"
\ (somewhat less excitedly): "you mean... out here? at sea?"
truly, it had been days since any sightings.
~ stars: for the first time in a long while it was not overcast on one of my night watches. the moon conveniently rose after the end of my watch. saw taurus, gemini, ursa minor, scorpio, ptolemy's cluster. i believe this was the first good astromoly opportunity on this voyage. the plow, or big dipper if you're not from ireland, is not really in the sky. though you can see a part of the handle as it rotates around polaris over the course of the night. with the moon having been nearly full and in the sky for most of every night, less great opportunity to look into the night.
~ Skallagrim Kveldulffson, King Eirik's Gift, Egil's Saga
