Tuesday October 13th
Woke up at 7:30am for an 8am turn to. I was really wishing there were more hours in the night as I had to choose either a good night’s sleep or a good last night in port before crossing an ocean. From the way I looked that morning it was pretty easy to figure out which one I had accomplished. We singled up the docklines, seastowed the ship, and did a number of little other things needed to get ready for the voyage.
Our pilot came on board to talk with the captain and then left to follow behind in his pilot boat. We took docklines and let the wind blow us off the dock, threw the ship in reverse, and headed out of the harbor. All of us were sad to go and I don’t think there was a single person on board who did not mention a desire to return to the Azores.
Shortly after getting under way we set pretty much all the sails and headed southwest. So as soon as sails were set we found out the clocks had been moved back 2 hours and it would be an all day work party. With my watch at the end of work party this meant working 15 hours straight with a lunch break in the middle. There were no immediately necessary repairs.
The entire crew was grumbling an unhappy (I think many had made my same last night in port choice). I really think that if it had not been ridiculously nice weather out that afternoon there would have been open complaint. Another point of frustration was, after lunch when the breeze slackened, we were asked to furl the royals and topgallants, but not enough sailors were devoted to the jobs. So we all struggled and had a rough time with it. Sure enough not 3 hours later I was sent up to unfurl both topgallants. I think I went up and down the rig close to 20 times today, if not more.
We did have absolutely beautiful weather in the afternoon, a lovely sunset, and a dark night with incredible stars.
Wednesday October 14th
Woke up at 3:20am for our 4-8 watch. We were moving fairly slowly, but the sky was dark and we had incredible stars. watch was extremely uneventful. We washed the deck shortly after the 
sun rose and went to sleep after breakfast.
Woke up at 12 noon for lunch and went on to work party. Mike and I put seizings on the main topgallant mast shrouds. After that I put a new hank on the main topmast staysail. It was beautiful weather and most of us worked shirtless.
We came on watch, swept and mopped the tween deck, then furled the royals. Caleb had me do a sunsight with a sextant and we worked on the calculations. There are so many calculations involved in figuring out your latitude from a sunsight. I have an entire page of numbers and calculations. I was only a few miles off the mate’s calculations which was good. This reminded me how much I love gps.
Sunset was as lovely as ever and gave way to another dark night with beautiful stars. We have been moving very slowly since we left the Azores, but today we picked up a little speed.
Thursday October 15th
Woke up for watch and got boatcheck to begin with. This meant I got all the idle positions so it was a nice and easy watch. I slept a bit, read some of The Hobbit and enjoyed my time on bow watch under the stars. After watch I ate some breakfast and went to sleep until lunch.
For work party we sanded and oiled all the brightwork and I worked on the stern gratings, just as I had done in New York which was the last time they were done over. I worked barefoot and shirtless under the intermittent sun with my big floppy hat. We worked until watch and had much of a repeat of the previous day.
We swept and mopped, I furled the fore royal, and Caleb had me do another sun sight. I was again fairly close to our estimated position. I think it will take many more sights before I can do all calculations and look up the information on my own, as well as fully understand it all. We had dinner and Christine was kind enough to take the helm so I could eat below.
We had yet another beautiful sunset and dark night for the stars to 
come out. As I went on bow watch to relieve Jim he said something about how he always watched the water for people over board or liferafts and such. I commented that lost at sea would be a hell of a way to go. He replied that while sailing on a ship they found a survival suit floating in the water and when they pulled it out they found bones inside. Someone had been lost and drifted for a long while. They never figured out where the body came from. I said that must have been very sobering and he agreed. Then I laughed and said "way to be a downer Jim”, he laughed, but then very grimly said “yeah, but it is a real danger”.
He left me with that story in the dark calm night. Yes there is always the constant danger for all of us to end up an unnamed pile of bones in a survival suit coffin, but I feel only a little more than driving a Los Angeles highway. Besides, it was too beautiful a night under the milky way on the bow of a tall ship with sails set to brood on the fragility of our positions. I quickly put my mind back into the stars and inky clouds. I think that chilling story will always stick with me.
Watch ended shortly thereafter and I lingered a few minutes on deck to watch for another shooting star and went below to sleep.
Friday October 16th
Got woken up for watch and dragged myself out of my bunk. Tonight is warmer than any we have had since Bermuda and I spent most of the watch in my t-shirt; I even did deckwash in bare feet. I read a bunch and as we had Sam for our mate this watch we played with the sails a lot.
On bow watch the sun began to rise and did something I have never seen in my entire life. A ray of pink/purple light shot up 
from behind the clouds and horizon. Bright and narrow at first it spread and faded. I had just gone below for my camera a few minutes before so I was lucky enough to take a photo and have the ship be still enough for it to come out. I think it will look like lens flare and do the moment no justice, but I hope those who see it can get a sense of the brilliance of the scene.
As the day wore on some dolphins came to visit and the water was so still and clear we could seem them perfectly well. They were beautiful spotted dolphins and small stripped fish swam around the hull.
Frank made an incredible breakfast and I got ready for a very warm day. It feels like summer! I took a noon sight at local apparent noon and we had a man overboard drill at capstan. Now that we are using a floating head for a man overboard dummy instead of oranges we have a 100% success rate.
For work party my watch sanded and oiled wood on the foredeck and for since we were motoring with no wind we were allowed to play music so we listened to reggae in the sun as we worked. We passed a floating bottle with a cork in it, but did not stop to pick it up, I was disappointed.
We started our watch amid rumors of a swim call. Just we were finishing some of our chores we head the engine die and the call. So we got on swimsuits and over the side we went. We haven’t had a swim call since on the way to Bermuda and that was our only swim call. This was cooler, but just as incredible. Crystal clear water with a deep blue endless bottom. There was a 3-4 ft swell running and it made swimming and getting on board the ship a little more fun. Some of the crew swam under the boat so I decided to give it a try.
Floating in the water I calmed myself and slowed down my heart rate. I took two deep breaths and down I went. My eyes were open and I could see extremely well. Down down I went under our 14ft draft and a foot under our long dark keel. About when I got to the keel I was running short of breath, but that is the halfway mark so on I pushed toward the light until I popped out of the water and took several deep breaths 30 ft away from where I went under. That was fun.
We got back on deck and got the ship under way again. We had a 
nice sunset, but by far more incredible stars. The water was so still we could see many of the lower and brighter ones reflecting off the water. In such a dark night we also had bright phosphorescence making for quite a light show where ever you looked. A huge squal lingered in the distance, but it and us seemed to travel at the same speed so we had a pleasant night.
Saturday October 17th
Woke up for watch and had to drag myself out of bed and force my eyes open. We came on deck to a little chilliness and beautiful stars. We did a deck wash and the watch went by quite uneventfully; quite slowly as well. As the sun rose things began to warm up and I knew it would be another warm day. The most incredible sunrise of yesterday decided to outdo itself this morning with several shaft of purple light amid the rising sun.
Sleep, lunch, work party. Mike and I tensioned some stays on the headrig and Scottie brought out popsicles so I lounged in the headrig stays, the crew thought it was funny and Dan went to get the captain. The captain has been getting into his photography lately and at capstan said he was going to do a photo journal of crew tattoos. So he came up and took a picture of my tattoo as I lay in in the headrig. We had a nice time working and then went on watch.
We will start now at night instead of having an idle rotation on the watch, one person a night getting stood down for watch. My first night will be on Monday. I am really glad at just getting 4 hours a week more to myself, which will double my spare time in a week. Watch went well and uneventfully. I ate dinner on the bow watching the sun set.
Sunday October 18th
Woken for watch, tired. During the night a breeze sprung up from the Northeast and we are under sail for the first time in 3 days. Also, going faster under sail than we have been since before the Azores. We are working our way Southwest towards the trade winds. May we reach them quickly.
Unfurled the main royal, did a deck wash, did wakeups, and helped Freya pump the bilges. Should be another nice day. Yesterday I got an email from Amelia saying that Pride of Baltimore II, the topsail schooner she sails, won first over the line for the Chesapeake Bay Schooner Race. I told Bounty crew at capstan yesterday and everyone thought it was cool. I am excited for her, that is pretty cool and it sounded like a pretty intense race.
Went to sleep until lunch. Today is a Ship’s Sunday as well as an actual Sunday. So we dog the watches and no one has work party. I had projects in mind, but I find myself tired and wish only to watch a movie and relax. So that is what I did until our dog watch from 4-6pm. I went to sleep after that until midnight for our new 12-4 watch.
Monday October 19th
It was a lovely warm night with many stars and shooting stars as well. Sam was our mate tonight so of course it was a busy watch. He has settled down some, but he still insists on doing work that could be done during daylight. So, we braced the ship, which needed to be done. Amber and I were sent out on the headrig to furl all the headsails, which did not need to be done. So, in the darkness we climbed out on the bow sprit and gasketed all 3 sails.
The rest of watch went fairly normally. I got hungry and ate a big piece of my Azorean cheese, man was it good. After watch I went to my bunk and slept like a rock until 8am when I was awoken for breakfast and work party. Cookie is working the galley and made some incredible breakfast burritos.
Work party found Mike and I tensioning the headrig again. I was not happy for this though it is nice enough work. I woke up this morning to find my knuckle looking better than it has since the whole swelling with blood thing. Then of course, despite the splint I have been wearing for a week, I hit it on things and it was nice and puffy again. Still, we got the work done and seizings put on the line. During that work I saw a big school of flying-fish, the first I have seen since our transit to New York. Flying-fish mean Dorado, which means good eating. The fishing lines are out, but nothing yet.
An excellent lunch and then to watch from 12-4. We did dishes until the capstan meeting where the captain was up to mischief. Gabe was in a swimsuit and I knew what was afoot. We lowered the inflatable boat and got it going and over the side went Gabe. “Man overboard!!” went the cry and alarm. Everyone jumped to their positions working the ship or watching the MOB.
Over the swell went Gabe bobbing up and down as the ship sailed on. He blew his whistle and we watched him disappear and reappear as he went up and down in the swell. Dan in the inflatable stayed near him, but I had a strong dislike of the whole thing. Of course it was good to see what a person in the water looks like and to strike home how easily they could be lost, but it seemed an unnecessary risk to me.
We hove to’ the ship and kept our eyes peeled at Gabe now about a mile from the ship. We would lose sight of him in the whitecaps and swell only to see his blonde head a moment later. Dan was called to bring him back, which was done without a hitch. The captain discussed the maneuver and gave his critiques.
We fired off a few expired flares and a smoke canister and the captain discussed them a little more. After that we played with the ship again to get her on the best trim for our new course of West by South. Finally some more definite Westward motion. Home!
After that I stood the helm for an hour in a good steady breeze with our speed averaging about 5-6 knots. In the distance at one point a splash among whitecaps caught my eye and, though I could not discern the predator that made them, it was evident from the violence of the spray and its frequency there was one hell of a hunt going on about a mile from the ship to starboard. There was quite a show and we all had a dream of whatever tasty fish it was on our galley table.
After watch I was in high spirits as tonight is my night off our night 12-4 watch. I go 16 hours without having to work and I am so excited! A full night’s sleep plus some time to myself. I never thought such a meager thing as 4 extra hours off could be such a momentous event.
Tuesday October 20th
Oh how good it felt to sleep until I could sleep no more! I think I got close to 11 hours. I had a leisurely breakfast and read a book until my morning work party. Mike and I got sent to replace the halyard block on the head of the inner jib. I went out on the headrig and did the work replacing the block as well as the downhaul block while I was out there. I enjoyed the sun and the slow up and down roll as I say 60ft above the rushing water.
After a few little jobs and lunch we came on watch. The captain seems to have a pattern of deciding its time to play with the boat during work party when my A watch has the boat during afternoon work party. So on top of our morning work party we had to do maneuvers with the ship. We braced on a sharp tack and the mates discussed how to better stretch out our too large mainsail. in the end after a bunch of work it was decided that we were currently doing it the best way.
The rest of watch went easily enough, we did our chores and I got some time to read a book on deck. Which of course was a bad idea since those on work party kept asking me to help them and run to get things. After watch was over I kicked back a bit until dinner. After that I hung out for a bit and then went to sleep.
Wednesday October 21st
Woke up for watch shortly before midnight and had a decent watch. Beautiful stars seem to have become the norm, though tonight was cooler than usual and I had to put on a coat over my sandals and shorts. The breeze has lightened up again and we have all the squares set, except the royals which are never flown at night. Not much to say about it other than it passed. Went back to sleep until breakfast and work party.
Mike and I got sent to the tune the mizzen shrouds so we set up the some-alongs, cut the old seizings, greased the deadeyes with only enough time left to take up a couple times. I asked Dan to stop assigning me knuckle busting work for a while so that my knuckle can properly heal. I spoke to him a couple times about it and he kept assigning me rig tuning which is about the worst thing I could think of for my knuckle. So, today I told him to stop assigning me knuckle buster projects in a half serious tone and I think he got the message.
We ate lunch and then went on watch. My theory is holding true about the captain playing with the ship when we have her during the afternoon work party. Today we braced the ship to various points to see if we could learn anything about how fast she went on the various sail trims. It seems we didn’t really learn anything.
We stood watch after that whole bit and it went by quickly in the nice afternoon sun. As we got off watch we stayed on deck and helped heave the ship to. Once we were hove-to a swim call was issued and we went for a swim. I got up the nerve and jumped off the tip of the jibboom, the most forward point of the ship which is as high as the lowest yard.
I held onto the flying jib stay with my feet on the very tip of the jibboom. On the up roll of a swell I hopped off and free fell for seemed to be a while until I hit the water with a good force. I don’t think it was any higher as the diving platforms I used to jump off, but they weren’t in the middle of the Atlantic. I swam around a bit more, got stung by some little jellyfish and took a nice freshwater shower. I ate dinner on deck and watched the sun set in all its golden glory. This restaurant may not have my favorite menu all the time, but it has got one hell of a view.
Thursday October 22nd
Woke up for night watch feeling quite tired. Came on deck to find that a buntline (line used for striking a sail) for the main topgallant and come loose dropping to the deck. The previous watch had coiled it and left it there to be fixed in the morning. Sam was our mate tonight so I had the feeling I would be sent up to fix it. Sure enough he asked me to do just that.
I asked why it could not be done in the daylight, as the previous watch had intended. I told him, though we are in very calm conditions and I had no problem doing the work, going aloft and tying things with both hands on a dark night like this should be avoided if there is not reason to get it done this second. He countered that if a squall came upon us and that sail could not struck it could get dangerous.
I relented, making sure someone was below with a strobe light and life ring. Aloft I went leading the line through its various fair-leads and around shrouds. The only light I had to work with was starlight, so I tied the knot mostly by feel. I lingered for a moment on the crosstrees and watch the stars, I don’t think I will ever tire of seeing stars like these. The rest of the watch went quickly and uneventfully.
I stayed in bed during work party fighting the same sinus infection I’ve always been fighting. At the capstan meeting the Captain went on a very long lesson about how to sharpen and keep wood chisels. I was a combination of amused and bored by the whole thing, but I suppose I know a lot more about chisels now. The weather is quite mild and warm, puffy cumulous clouds as far as the eye can see.
I went to sleep early and asked Frank to keep a plate for me in the fridge.
Friday October 23rd
Woke up for watch feeling a bit better and found the square sails struck and the fore and aft sails drawing. The wind had veered and we had one engine and the triangular sails keeping us going, slowly. The helm was not liking this setup at all and she was all over the place. I got my exercise for the night hauling the wheel back and forth. While I was on the helm the wind veered even more and I told Caleb we were getting headed, so we altered course a bit more west.
During the watch I saw more shooting stars than I have ever seen in one night, it was incredible. About every minute or two I would catch one out of the corner of my eye. For a while I just stared around the constellation of Orion and saw several. It was a lovely night.
Slept through work party again just to make sure I rest enough to beat this thing back down. The afternoon watch was pretty uninteresting. With both engines, the watermaker, and a generator going at once the engine room was like a dry sauna. I was drenched in sweat by the time I was done pumping the bilges. Slept until my night watch.
Saturday October 24th
Woke up feeling much better than I have in a while. For work party we began with setting all the sails as the wind had come fair again, though light. I replaced a halyard block I had recently replaced that had split its cheeks, whipped the end of that halyard, and then helped mike sand and oil the jibboom. Today is a very warm day and I soaked my shirt with ice water a couple times; I am so glad to be back in the heat.
For out capstan meeting we certainly did not live fire a cannon with a ball made of cement. If we had we would not have really seen where the ball landed, though I might have seen a splash in the water a couple hundred yards out. Our afternoon watch was fairly normal and some high cloud cover cooled things down nicely.
I have the night off in our new rotating time off schedule and that coupled with a Ship’s Sunday tomorrow makes this a really great night, almost 20 hours off in a row. I watched a couple movies and hung out with my pals; even got a full night’s sleep.
At about 7 in the evening we crossed the tropic of Cancer, certainly the farthest South I have ever been let alone sailed. We expect to be hitting the trade winds soon, though they seem to be at a very low latitude this year. We hope to be making our westward turn in the next couple days.
We still don’t know where we are going. Our office can’t seem to find a dock in Puerto Rico and no one knows where Bounty’s winter home in Florida will be. So, it seems will just be sailing generally west for a while until someone actually gets our schedule hammered out.
Sunday October 25th
Slept a full night and woke up just in time for breakfast. I did a few little things I had been meaning to do and then decided to make a hammock. We had some leftover scraps from the man netting we put up and I got my hands on a length just about the right size. For about a month it had been sitting next to my bunk.
I got a couple scrap pieces of wood from Bosun’s and with Zach’s helped rigged the thing up and cut off the scraps in about an hour. We hung it off the spanker boom and now on my idles or a nice afternoon I can rig up my hammock, read a book, and enjoy a breeze.
Christine suggested we should sail to the equator, which is a right of passage for sailors giving us the title of “shellback”. She had emailed Margaret to ask if we could dip down and hit the equator simply to have crossed it and earned this title. The crew was not having it. Several people said the same thing, including myself. The equator would be 1200 out of our way and most importantly would require us to pass through the doldrums. There was almost an anger in the opposition to the idea.
I think it is a good indicator of how ready this crew is to get home. We’ve sailed over 10,000 miles and been working hard for over 5 months. Everyone is in good spirits and working as usual, but I sense that people are feeling a bit trapped, ready for a change and for the old familiar things in life. We all love sailing this ship, but I think we are all ready for this journey to end.
We stood our last 12-4 watch for the week, which was uneventful. After watch I watched a movie with some of the crew and then had dinner. Today is the Captain’s Birthday so cookies, cupcakes, and cake was made and after dinner we all gathered at the capstan. Rebecca sounded the general alarm and we waited in anticipation, and waited, and waited.
The captain came up a minute and a half later laughing. He had thought it was the high water alarm in the engine room and, thinking the crew was ignoring it, waited for a bit then went to the engine room to try to figure it out. He though it was funny and we handed him a card that had been secretly passed around. We were glad to see he enjoyed it.
I took a brief nap before watch and then went on deck for our new 8-12 watch. The sun had set some hours ago and a waxing gibbous moon was high in the sky. The weather was wonderful in shorts and a shirt. The wind died during our watch and so the sails were struck and we kicked on the iron sail. Several people lounged on deck and the watch passed fairly quickly in conversation.
Monday October 26th
Woke up for watch tired from the new sleep schedule my body needs to adjust to. Another beautiful day, a few little rain clouds passed over us and cooled us down. We are still heading Southwest, the trades must be low low low this year. The winds are light and are expected to stay light.
The breeze was up a little from nothing when we came on deck. The topsails had been set and we went up to unfurl the rest. Caleb went to the daily mate’s meeting and so I got the rest of the watch to set all the remaining sails. I took it upon myself to lead my watchmates and call out the commands to set the sail. I’m not sure if they resented it, but they did as I asked with a smile. I felt very good that I was confident enough in my abilities to lead them and that they are confident enough in my abilities to let me lead them.
Morning work party came on deck and began the task I heard discussed for several days: putting up, shall we say, creative sail. 
With such light winds, predicted light winds, and well over a thousand miles to go, the decision was made to set up extra sail. A Jacksail, a course sail for the mizzen crojack yard was made from an old spare mainsail and work began on a couple bonnets (an extra length of sail attached to the bottom of the course sails, also called a decksweeper). They look funny and will have to be taken down at night in case of squalls, but they add a couple miles more a day.
Afternoon work party consisted of Gabe and I making eye splices in a length of line and releading the blocks on the mainmast for the foreroyal braces, did some serving, and another little project. It drove me nuts as I was done 5 minutes before the end of work party, but instead of just being done 5 minutes early I was sent on another project and finished late. It is not as though we have a time crunch here, there will be many many more days for projects. All this tells me is to work more slowly until work is over or I will lose some of what little free time I have.
Had a nice nap after dinner until watch I came on watch. The day was not that hot, but the night was nicely warm and I went the whole watch without wearing a shirt. It reminded me of those lovely summer nights in Fresno. Everyone was in a good mood and watch went by uneventfully and quickly.
Tuesday October 27th
Woke up for watch playfully flirting with the idea of going back to sleep and making them wake me a second time. I got up. The breeze is still light, but are heading mostly west with only a little southing, which is a definite positive. Did breakfast dishes and cleaned the heads, the chores for our watch. I finished Hemmingway’s A Farewell to Arms and found it as depressing as I had expected.
The morning work party used the spars from Gabe’s Whaler sail
rig to make a stuttingsail (commonly called a stuns’l) for the foretopsail. They are old tree branches and the only spars big enough we had on board (cough, my idea, cough), an old sail awning was used for the sail. The sail set well and is hilariously awesome being undersized and having obviously tree limb spars.
For lunch Cookie honored my request for his calzones and added the Azorian cheese Doug bought for the ship. Best lunch ever! For work party I had to change the ends of the sheets on the fore course and replace the sheet blocks. This turned out to be quite a project as all the gear blocks were shackled to the sheet block’s shackle. So, all the gear had to be secured and dealt with which I was hanging by my harness swinging under the course yard. On a warm afternoon working hard while swinging wildly in the 10ft+ swell we’ve been getting I was having less than a wonderful time. To add the fun my partner assigned to the task was “not comfortable” with doing the work so she was my incessantly asking questions assistant. By the end of the project and the end of work party I began to feel seasick from all the rolling.
I have officially, temporarily, run out of patience with some of the less pleasant members of the crew. I always try my best to be amiable and friendly with everyone, there is simply no other way to be when living, working, and playing with the same folk 24/7. I find myself lately having trouble letting things slide I usually shed like duck on a water’s back. Fatigue, frustration with the pace of our journey, and over 5 months in a rigid hierarchy of authority that purposefully keeps the crew uninformed. I suppose I just need to keep positive, take the joy I can from each day, and try not to think too hard about the wonderful things that lay on the other side of this ocean.
I ate dinner and slept until watch. I was woken up with the warning of a possible squall. I came on deck to a freshening breeze and the first peppering of raindrops. They were’nt kidding. I got on my warm weather foul weather jacket and my southwester cap (I love that thing). A nice little squall came through spitting rain and a lovely breeze. We went from our usual 2-3 knots to 6 for nearly a half hour, I laughed that 6 knots feels fast nowadays.
Sam was our mate and I chatted with him about sailing California and San Francisco Bay. I had a good time reminiscing about home. We had another little squall come through and everyone was happy to get any extra breeze. Our stuns’l, for some reason not struck at dark like the royals, held up surprisingly and admirably in the extra breeze. The rest of watch went uneventfully and quickly. Sleep was good.
Wednesday October 28th,
Gabe woke me up for watch and when I opened my eyes he was close to my bunk and I could tell his eyes were not yet used to the dark. I waited a moment, he leaned closer to me saying my name louder thinking I was not yet awake. I lunged towards him suddenly and shouted. I have to keep myself amused somehow.
A little overcast and so a bit cooler today. Went on watch which was about as uneventful as it gets. Lunch and then afternoon work party. I made a new copper sheathing for the portside of the fore topsail sheet. I actually enjoyed this little project. I went up and made a paper mock up of what I needed and then cut and worked a sheet of copper to what I wanted. Then I put it in place and rehammered all the other copper up there to run better. Relaxed before dinner and then slept until watch.
Night watch was pretty uneventful as well. A squall had just passed us and we had a good breeze from it, then, as what always happens after a squall passes, the breeze died and we kicked on the engines after a little while. Usually it picks back up, but this time it decided to clock around to our nose and back everything. So, with 10 minutes until we got off the decision was made to strike sail. Which was everything but the royals, including our new stuns’l and jacks’l.
The stuns’l caught up on its boom and had to physically untangled. The port fore topgallant sheet would not strike and so I went aloft to find a foul lead while overhauling the sheet. Then we stayed on to get the light wind sails below and coil down. Our watch lost an hour of sleep. Well, it happens. Sleep was easy and deep.
Thursday October 29th
Morning watch, woke up easier than I expected. We are under motor, a light breeze running and so we set topsails and courses. The breeze promptly died. Another beautiful sunny day however. Rumors of a possible system coming in and giving us breeze sometime in the next 3 days. We’re all keeping our fingers crossed. Watch went by slowly and without incident.
Lunch and we certainly didn’t take advantage of the extremely calm day to fire a live cannon again. We didn’t see it explode into the water over a half mile from the ship. It wasn’t really cool, either. For work party I shortened the parrobead beands (which hold the yard to the mast when raising and lowering sail) on the main topgallant and royal. It took the whole time and man was it hot in the virtually nonexistant breeze and fiery sun.
The night off fell to me again so I read a bit, watched a movie, listened to music, but mostly went to sleep early and recharged batteries.
Friday October 30th.
Woke feeling refreshed and went on watch. The engine, which have been running over 24hrs, was cut and we were going less than 1.5 knots. So on the engines went again. After chores I did a sun sight with a sextant and somehow botched it, so on my next idle I shot another and didn’t mess it up. Towards the end of our watch we got a bit of a breeze so we set all of our squares and killed the engine. Today is our warmest day yet and I am sure I smell ripe, ah living on a ship.
There is rumor of a chance of a real breeze in the next couple days. We are all hoping hard for it. For work party I changed out a few blocks and then helped tune the main shrouds. Dinner. Slept until night watch.
A beautiful night with a bright nearly full moon. A little breeze, sailing at 3-4 knots. On the bow I saw, despite the bright moon, a shooting star become a fireball and disappear. It lasted long enough I pointed it out to the people on the bow with me and we all saw it burst into a bright ball of fire. We are getting close to a big meteor shower so I can’t wait until the moon is gone.
The rest of watch went pretty ordinarily.
Saturday October 31st
Happy Halloween! I am sad to miss this one out as the captain does not believe in Halloween and so the ship is not really celebrating the holiday. We work the same as always; really we can’t spare one afternoon work party? So only a couple of the crew dressed up, its just another day at sea.
Came on deck for watch to find us sailing along at 4 knots and the breeze strengthened throughout the watch until by 11:00am we were sailing at 6 knots! Finally some real breeze! This is the fastest we have gone since I think before the Azores.
Caleb caught a little Jack Tuna that had been hanging around the ship for a day and now there is a whole little school of tuna playing in our bow wave. Sushi tonight.
When I got off my helm rotation I was given the crew manual and told to reread it. Ominous to say the least. I didn’t think things were going badly, but I cannot think of a positive reason for a mandatory rereading of the crew manual. The thing is outdated and silly. It says smoking is allowed on deck and the crew tips get given to the crew: neither of these happen. I write this on my break after lunch and I feel a long lecture coming at the capstan meeting. I can count the times the captain has given positive reinforcement on one hand.
Judging by our course and destination we are heading for Miami to clear into the country and then to West Palm Beach. As always with sailing, we have no idea when we are getting there. I am definitely worried we will not get back in time for me to get home for Thanksgiving. On the upside, with the start of November things now feel like more of a countdown. The light is visible at the end of the tunnel, even if I can’t tell how far it is.
This is certainly the hardest thing I have ever done in my life. Sleep is a luxury, I work over 12 hour days 6 days a week at sea and the seventh is an 8+ hour day. Rarely an unbroken night’s sleep. Hard manual labor. Most of all I think I have found the hierarchical command structure the most difficult to bear. I have always knows I’m not a fan of authority, but this has been rough.
I have had and continue to have some of the most wonderful and incredible experiences of life, experiences that challenge every aspect of my being. I know I will forever look back in longing on these times and kiss the land in utter joy when I am free.
Well I was wrong, apparently some of the crew never read the crew manual, so all of us are reading it. The weird vibe I was getting was that we are changing the way we rotate mates, in that we are now rotating mates. Instead of Caleb being A watch’s mate and Sam relieves him every 3rd night, we just have the 4 mates and we rotate down the line for every watch. So I will rotate through every mate. The point of this is to help standardize the watches and we benefit from each mate’s strengths. I’m not sure how it will turn out for us deckhands, but it will be an interesting change at least.
For work party I stowed our light wind sails and helped tune the rig some more. When I was getting a comealong set up on the inner foretopmast backstay I heard a pop and a loud crash. I jumped up to see what was the matter and heard cries of “Is everyone ok?” For tensioning some of the stays we have been trying using two handy billies (block and tackle set) and a big metal hook unbent itself sending the block rocketing to deck with an incredible force.
Everyone was alright, a narrow miss, but a miss. Huge divets and a split deck plank remain in testament of the skull crushing force unleashed. We’re a lucky ship.
The school of tuna grew and grew during the day. As Freya and I tensioned fore stays on the headrig we could see some thirty of them swarming out bow wave. So cool.
Night watch was very social for some reason and I spent a lot of time chatting and hanging out while I did my watch work. A nice lukewarm night, overcast, but still blowing decently. Finally we are making some ground.
Sunday November 1st
Woke for watch to a stormy looking day. Good breeze. About 45 minutes into watch I was sitting on the nav shack reading a book. A puff of breeze came by and I set down my book to look up and see what was going on. My shirt next to me starts to blow away and the pages of the book sputter past. Squall.
Caleb called to strike the flying jib and I shouted below to get my watchmates up. Then it really hit, tearing through at gale force. Forget the headrig, we got the call to strike the royals and topgallants. The ship is steering wildly and I can see Jim throwing the helm back and forth. The sails are trimmed properly, but are shivering and luffing from the sheer force of the breeze. Raw natural power surging everywhere, ready to tear and render. The ship gets a good blow a bit off course and lays over, the water a few feet from the deck.
That big roll is a call to the crew off watch and below decks. Here they come knowing something is up or at least curious what’s going on. We are trying to strike the sails and I have the starboard clew for the fore topgallant. I am laying on the deck partly because of the heavy rolls and partly to brace my foot on the pinrail. Everyone is busy and there is no one to help me sweat the line. I put my back, arms, legs, and every other muscle I’ve got and clewed up the sail.
I am sweating from effort and my adrenaline is pumping well, the luffing of sails, howling wind, and sailors howling to heard over the wind adding to the intensity of the situation. Orders are shouted and echoed. I lay in with my shipmates hauling gear and we finally get everything struck.
“Hands aloft to furl!” I am sent to the mizzen topsail, with our weak mizzen mast it must be put away quickly. We climb the windward mizzen shrouds easily as the ship is still heeled over nicely. After 5 months sailing together everyone knows what needs to happen and that bastard of an awkward sail is furled in no time flat.
As we are finishing that sail the breeze begins to slacken and a cold rain blows down upon the ship. We get to deck, look aloft and see where we are needed. Most of us run aloft to the fore topgallant. By the time we get up there the squall has mostly passed and the breeze, though still strong, is no longer anything of concern. We all laugh that when we get to deck we will have to come back up and set it.
On deck everyone is coiling down and everyone is in a good mood with the thrill of the squall and satisfaction with our work. Caleb has Freya and I strike the flying jib finally and we run out to furl it. The rest of watch is fairly uneventful, though near the end the breeze strengthens nicely and we tear along near 7 knots. We strike and furl the rest of the headsails. Hell I furled that entire headrig.
Fear, danger, apprehension, adrenaline, thrill of a challenge, confidence in your own strength and abilities. A strange calm in the chaos of the moment and pumping emotions. Feeling…alive.
I wonder if this journal may give its readers a more dreary sense of my experience than is just. I think it is too easy, too convenient to bitch and complain in text while let the glowing moments of wonder pass unchronicled. Experiences such as this one make up for all the biting little things.
After watch it is lunch and then a ship’s Sunday afternoon without work party. During the afternoon I just kicked back and relaxed bit. Dinner and then my watch stood the 6-8pm dog watch, which was actually 3 hours as we set back the clock an hour. Sleep.
Monday November 2nd
Woke up at 3:20 am for our new 4-8 watch. Man was I tired when I got up. Adam was our mate for this watch, the first time I have ever stood a watch under Adam. It was a great watch. Since I am friends with Adam we just hung out while we worked, plus I think he is a good mate.
We passed a vessel, a 100 meter freighter, the first people we have seen for over a week and a half. They came right close to us, within a couple of miles, pounding against the wind and swell. We didn’t make any contact with them, but it was nice to see someone else out there, to know the world is still spinning.
We are making 6-7 knots heading dead down wind with main topsail, main topgallant, main royal and fore course. Since we are dead down wind and a swell has developed we are rolling quite heavily. We are all ok with it if it means this breeze will continue.
I spoke to the captain this morning about our schedule. I asked him if we had any idea if we were heading for Puerto Rico or straight on to Miami. Of course this depends on the wind and he said as much, but mostly I just wanted to explain to him my situation. Wanting to make it home for thanksgiving, want to get home sooner than later because I will be moving across the country and trying to make sure I get the job I have mostly lined up. I was basically explaining to him my situation and trying to find out if we stopped in Puerto Rico and I left the ship there would I be putting the ship in a tight spot or burning a bridge. I got the answer I expected, it would be fine, I am expendable. I’m ok with that. I love sailing, but the rest of the world is calling me.
We furled the main course and the foretopsail which had been put in its gear. Then I ate breakfast and went to sleep until lunch. At capstan the captain abolished our rotating nights off, for unsatisfactory reasons, a real bummer. We did a furling class, which was kinda silly given we are past halfway on the homeward bound transit. For work party I slushed (using edible beef fat for grease) the fore mast. Despite the unpleasantness of having one hand covered in grease climbing shrouds in a rolling sea, I was happy to do it, the rig needed it.
Evening watch went as smooth as can be, I struck and furled the royal. We had nice weather for the evening. The wind has gone down some, but we are making good ground still.
Tuesday November 3rd
Woke up for morning watch. I am still not yet adjusted to the 4-8 time schedule. I keep waking up hungry and excited for breakfast until I remember what time it is. I do love this watch for the amount of sleep I can get. The night was a little cool, but quickly warmed up once the sun rose. I unfurled and set the royal, we did a deck wash and that was about as exciting as it got.
22 days at sea since the Azores and 34 days at sea since Ireland. At the capstan meeting we did a man overboard drill with an actual person again. This time it was Robin (“Scotty”). I really hate it when we use an actual person, it seems like such an unnecessary risk to me, especially with the 5-7 ft seas we have. It went fine and we got her back on board. The captain got angry that we put the boat in “too slow”, when he said this was a walk through drill, not about speed.
A discussion on various man overboard drills and situations followed. The discussion got rather heated at times. I halfheartedly listened as there is not enough time left on the ship to implement or practice these things. So we talked and drilled again (to the captain’s satisfaction). There wasn’t really enough time for work party so we were sent below to clean our racks. I was waiting for a surprise alarm any second, but I think because of this they did not set the alarm.
Evening watch went by pretty normally. We had a nice sunset and another bright moon. The breeze is hanging out at 10-15 knots and we are averaging about 4 knots through the water. Perfect temperature out, shirtless all day and night. Furled the royal again. Sleep.
Wednesday November 4th
Had a lot of trouble waking up today, felt like I had to claw my way up from a deep, deep sleep. A long couple hours until sunrise. Deckwash was nice, the water is warmer than it was and makes me wish for a swim call as it sloshes across the deck with each roll and over my feet. Swim call would be nice, but at this point I would rather have those miles we would lose.
After the long watch was over I went to sleep and was out right until lunch. I had lunch and heard the general alarm as I was putting my climbing harness on. Every jumped on deck to calls of man overboard and we had the rescue boat in the water in no time flat. Nobody went in the water or the boat, it was a dry drill. The captain commended us (one of the few times he has) and we broke for work party.
In the tween deck along the port side we keep all of our scrap lines from a couple fathoms (a fathom is six feet, the length of an average man’s outstretched arms) to 30+ fathoms. For the last week Zach has been measuring and labeling the 100+ lines and today I helped him measure the last ones. We worked on organizing the lines and a new system of storage. It was hot work.
Went on watch, a very busy watch. We did our chores right up until dinner and then struck and furled sail after dinner. We struck and furl the mizzen topsail and the main royal. Amber, Freya and I went to furl the mizzen topsail, an awkward pain in the neck sail to furl when you have the proper 6 people to do it. Thankfully we had plenty of light and were in no hurry to get the job done.
I had the whole starboard side to myself, Amber and Freya on the port side. We worked and worked, Freya and Amber got very frustrated and upset by the time we were finished. On deck Freya was angry about having to furl shorthanded. I looked up at the sail with pride seeing the starboard side, the side I did alone and without complaint, looked better than the port side.
Once all the dishes and chores were done we just hung out until the end of watch. It was a nice night, the moon didn’t rise until after our watch left the deck, so we got to see some great stars. Almost everyone was in a good, chatty mood; so the quarter deck almost felt like we were on someone’s porch enjoying a nice summer night.
Rumors of stopping in Puerto Rico. Here’s what we know: there was an email on the ship’s email from our office entitled “Bounty in Puerto Rico” and Amelia, at an ASTA conference, spoke to Margaret our office person who seemed quite sure we are stopping at Puerto Rico. Of course the captain is a stone wall about our future, but this information plus our 800 mile distance to Puerto Rico are hopeful.
Despite the ups and down I am still having a good time on the ship. If my schedule were not so tight with Thanksgiving, moving across the country and starting a new job, I would like to sail all the way to West Palm Beach. However, if we do stop in Puerto Rico I think I will most likely leave the ship. I need to get ready to move, I need to see a doctor about the sinus infection I’ve had since Ireland as well as my cut knuckle joint, and most of all I want to spend some time with my folks and rest up before I move. Who knows what will happen, I will take advantage of whatever opportunities arise, whether my path leads home or continues North across the sea.
Thursday November 5th
Woke for morning watch, tired. On idle for the first hour of watch and for some reason not explained to me I was only allowed to sit on deck and wait for the next hour. Being told to do something I think is unreasonable, especially without explanation, is very frustrating. On the helm for an hour, we are still making about 4 knots. I unfurled and we set the main royal when it was light enough. Did a deck wash. Bow watch. Waffles for breakfast and I went back to sleep.
At capstan we did a 3 minute abandon ship drill and I felt like I was being turned into jerky inside that survival suit. The captain discussed how he does not know where we are going yet, but would tell us when he does. Less than a week to Puerto Rico or over 2 weeks to Florida. We broke quickly for work party. Zach and I unreaved, measured, and rereaved one of the maincourse lifts, After that we sat in the tweens splicing circle strops and grommets from old scraps of line. Got ready for watch.
We had a nice evening on watch. We just missed a squall and the sun set behind it silhouetting a picture book squall. Beautiful stars before the moon rose. Saw a few shooting stars. Missing Amelia, missing family, missing home, missing freedom. Went to sleep.
Friday November 6th
Woke just before my wakeup, a nice change of pace. Got ready for watch and came on deck. For the first two hours of watch 25 days at sea and an uncertain future was getting to me, a restlessness and bad mood I couldn’t shake. As the sun rose and the dark faded to light I became myself again. We set every square sail we’ve got.
The ship is now trying jibing back and forth in the trade winds. Sailing straight down wind the main mast shadows the sails on the foremast. So, we are not going straight west but we are traveling at a higher rate of speed. Theoretically we will make a few extra miles each day. In any case its nice to feel like we are going somewhere.
B watch was grouchy about their wakeups (I had no hand in them). A mate who shall go nameless got a late wakeup and so made us all wait for him while he ate his cereal in the galley. I think I am not the only one who is feeling the cabin fever, the whole ship is feeling antsy. I am working on keeping it to a minimal. I think a lot of it has to do with being tired all of the time (cough overworked cough) so I am finding coffee helps, though I normally don’t drink it.
Lunch and capstan. For capstan we did a man overboard maneuver used by the British Royal Navy in the days of sail. So, sailing downwind someone goes overboard. The ship cannot sail upwind to get the MOB so the ship sails as close to the wind as it can get and sails off away from the person. Meanwhile the person drifts downwind in the wind and swell, so after a while when the ship turns around opposite their course they have stayed upwind and finds the MOB in their path.
We threw a chunk of wood and then braced sharp to the wind. After a while we tacked back (remember tacking is hard to do on a square rigger and especially us on A watch) and saw the wood 200 yards to windward, we sailed on and then tacked again. On this time back we saw it again about 120 yards out. We sailed on farther and tacked. No one saw the wood this time and the captain called us to the capstan to talk about the maneuver.
At the capstan I thought to myself that there was not way we had sailed far enough back in the direction of the MOB, so I kept one eye to windward. Sure enough, while the captain was talking and everyone focused on him, I spotted the MOB 50 yards to windward. I called it out and everyone turned. The captain was delighted with another success.
So we sailed on and tacked yet again. Everyone lined the rails to watch for the MOB. I took up a position on the bow in case we ran the thing down and Amber took a position to leeward. After a while she spotted it to leeward not 5 yards from the ship. Everyone of our tacks was successful and every pass in our maneuver as well. I think we all felt like a crack crew at least for a bit. All my muscles ached from hauling lines, I was covered in sweat and had ditched my shirt early on.
I enjoyed the maneuver and it was fun to do such a historic MOB drill, but the afternoon was frustrating as well. For several weeks we have been setting royals as soon as it is day, striking as late as we can, setting up extra light wind sails and trimming everything just so to get every ounce of speed from the light trades. Not to mention jibing every 4 hours to gain a few miles here and there. I find a metaphor is everyone working hard to scrape and save just a little extra money and then it gets blown in a single afternoon on candy. A lot of hard won miles thrown away in just a few hours.
Then we had to refurl a bunch of sails we unfurled for the maneuver. Ugh. I suppose its best to just focus on the fun and success of the MOB Maneuver.
Evening watch, lots of chores so time passed quickly. A nice evening. Nothing of particular interest happened. Oh, I did get to see some bottlenose dolphins for a minute before I had to go below to do dishes. I have a strange affection for bottlenose, so I took a great joy from seeing them. Familiarity I suppose.
Saturday November 7th
Morning 4-8 watch. A nice night, saw a few good shooting stars. Had helm for the first rotation and she was steering nicely for the first time in a while. The breeze started decently but slacked throughout the watch. I have been doing a lot of the chores lately and picking up the slack in my watch, but the last couple days the mates have been looking out for me and forcibly assigning the chores to the other members of my watch, it’s been great. This morning’s watch was downright restful.
Work party was sawing up a whole bunch of extra timber to use as Dutchmen, chunks of wood thrown in the water to gauge our speed. I was covered in saw dust, but I had a good time working with Zach. Some of the crew made bows and arrows out of some of the wood and we entertained ourselves for a bit that way. When that was done we stowed a bunch of stuff in bosun’s and then I went on watch.
When I was on the helm I heard Zach say to someone in the nav shack that Puerto Rico was officially off. I lowered my head, took a deep breath and sighed. Then he came up to me beaming and said “Grant the captain just said Puerto Rico is officially on!”. I was confused and he said was just teasing someone. I cursed him in multiple ways.
An email just came through a few minutes before that confirming we had a dock. I was walking on air, so much worry about in the future was solved by a mere 2 weeks extra. The rest of watch I was bounding off the walls and having a grand old time. Mike and I furled the Mizzen topsail, normally a 6 man job, by ourselves and did a half decent job of it. The sun set was beautiful and we had some great stars come up. I broke out a carton of ice cream I had been saving since Galway and doled it out to A watch. Everyone was surprised and excited by this rare commodity. At our end of watch capstan I told my watch I would be leaving Puerto Rico and they really seemed sad to see me go. I was touched.
I could hardly sleep that night.
Sunday November 8th
Woke up for morning watch feeling great. Adam was our mate for the watch and we had fun hanging out. We set the main and fore royals, but did not set the mizzen topsail. A huge, mean looking, mass of dark clouds was bearing down upon us. Could be just some rain, could be a mean squall. So we set the royals betting it wasn’t a squall. We didn’t do a deckwash either since we would soon be awash in fresh water.
The sun rose nicely and we were relieved. I went for breakfast and slept until lunch. Woke up and found out the clouds had missed us, but another big rain storm was on top of us pouring its heart out. Ate lunch and then went below to begin cleaning out my stuff and organizing. Got photos from a couple people and talked to mates about letters of recommendation and sea time letters.
Pretty soon it was time for our evening dog watch and Sveta came below for my wakeup shedding water. She said I could guess the weather. I threw on my foulies to find out topgallants and royals had been struck on threat of a squall. A seaspout had been spotted a couple miles away. I was bummed I wasn’t called up for it.
A watch took the deck and volunteered to take the helm so I could enjoy the warm tropical rain. the wind veered all over the place, strengthened and slackened. We braced the ship a couple times, but then had to strike all the sail as the breeze came on our nose.
Zach was talking to Rebecca, my mate for the watch, about Puerto Rico. Zach thought we would be there Thursday and Rebecca said it would be sooner. He pressed her and she said we would be leaving the 13th. I did the math in my head and said Thursday was the 12th. Zach said “Wait we’re leaving on Friday the 13th!?”
In case you don’t know it is extremely bad luck (I roll my eyes) for a ship to leave port on a Friday. The captain never does it and the British Royal Navy never set sail on a Friday. This was such a problem that the Navy built a ship called Friday, had the keel laid on a Friday, even christened it and set sail on a Friday. It was promptly never heard from again. So this is a rather large and hilarious error to plan to leave port on what turns out to be a Friday. A Friday the 13th no less.
Rebecca mentioned this to the captain. He thought for a moment and said “That’s quite a kettle of fish…”paused and repeated himself. We nearly laughed ourselves to tears when a moment later he turned on the GPS and began rethinking his plans.
After striking all the sail we scarfed down a late dinner and came on deck to more rain. Mike and I went on the head rig and furled the inner jib. I have been finding it easier to climb the headrig barefoot these days and rather enjoyed the cool wet wood and line on my feet. We got it furled and ended our watch 15 minutes late. I went below to watch a movie and relax the rest of my Sunday.
Home in less than a week!
Monday November 9th
Awoken at 11:20pm for the 12-4 watch. What a night. Came on deck to more rain. Only the main and fore topsails and courses were set. Rain was on and off, there were several weather systems we were keeping an eye on. On the helm, I got one hell of a light show from all the lightning around us. Just before 1am a big storm cloud materialized on top of us.
Caleb was our mate for the watch and he woke up the captain. We struck all the sail and the captain took the deck while our watch, Caleb, and Dan the Bosun (whom we woke) went aloft to furl. These are the heaviest sails on the ship so we had a hell of a time in the shifting breeze getting them furled. The breeze was going all sorts of crazy directions and of various intensities. When we were on the fore course yard the breeze came on our nose and I suppose a squall hit us.
I felt a few big rain drops hit and then wham came a gale force breeze straight on our nose. My foul weather jacket, mostly unzipped from the work of it, inflated like a balloon. I just laughed, zipped it up, and continued on furling. By the time we were all finished the watch was pretty much over. We motored now and the breeze was pretty much dead. A little bit later we left the deck and went to sleep.
Slept like a rock until I was awoken at 8am for breakfast and morning work party. The breeze had strengthened during the nigh and come fair so we helped set all the squares again. After that our watch furled the main course by ourselves and we finished work party by taking the stuns’l gear off the rig.
Lunch and then we took the deck. At the capstan meeting the captain and mates discussed even more changes to the watch system, rotations, and position jobs. I can’t help but scoff at all these changes just before the end of the voyage and the pretty much entire crew and officer turnover at the end of the season. I don’t understand it, but its “Yes Sir”.
We get to San Juan, Puerto Rico Wednesday morning, so I only have 3 watches left. We get there Wednesday and the ship leaves Thursday evening, avoiding Friday the 13th. There was much debate about how we would do port watch and after some deliberation I offered to stand watch Wednesday night since I am leaving the ship. It was with a little reluctance I made the decision as I have been at sea just as long as anyone else, but my reveling can wait a couple days longer. My goodbye present to the crew.
Tuesday November 10th
Woke up for night watch. The ship is rolling heavily, but at least we have a good breeze. With ship traffic and islands close ahead the gps has been “fixed” and we can see where we are. Saw plenty of shipping traffic and the sparse lights on a small island we passed 20 miles away in the night. The first land we have seen since the Azores, 29 days ago. Adam was my mate for the watch and we were all in a good mood. We had a fun watch, everyone joking and teasing. After watch I went right to sleep despite the ship’s heavy roll.
Woke for morning work party, Cookie had a wonderful breakfast made up as usual. Work party set me on the port side of the ship painting the hull to make us look pretty, like we’ve done so many times before. I hung on the fore chains with one hand and sanded and painted with my other. We are officially in the Caribbean Sea and with the blazing sun I believe it. Every time the ship got a good roll I lowered myself down a bit and dragged my feet in the water. Man did that feel good.
Lunch and then watch. We can seen the Virgin Island to port and Puerto Rico is about 60 miles ahead. The afternoon work party put harbor furls in the sails leaving on the main topsail and the fore course. We were going too fast and so we are putzing along at 3 knots under these sails alone, well 2 knots plus a 1 knot current. Everyone is still of course in a great mood and we had another fun watch.
I had been asking Caleb for a letter of recommendation and today he wrote it and had the captain sign it. With that letter, my sea time letter and my stuff packed I will be all set to go! The whole day just about every member of the crew has been teasing me and trying to guilt trip me about leaving the ship. Try as they might, I feel only excitement for my future.
At the end of our watch we hove to and had a swim call. The water was perfect! This was our longest swim call yet and everyone was high energy. There were several lines over the side and we had fun climbing up the lines hand over hand, something I don’t think I ever had the arm strength to do in the past. We also had fun hanging on to lines and being lifted out of the water by the roll of the ship. Gabe and I did another 60ft leap off the jibboom.
After dinner I packed a bit and then came on deck around 7pm to see how close we were. Puerto Rico was plainly visible about 10 miles off to port. I got my cell phone out and sure enough got great reception. I called my folks and Amelia; it was wonderful to hear their voices. It is great to have internet on the ship, but hearing their voices for the first time in 29 days was something else. I only reluctantly forced myself to go to sleep. The crossing isn’t over yet.
Wednesday November 11th
30 days at sea…wow.
Came on watch and found our ship within 18 miles of our pier. The breeze was down, but we still only had the maintop and fore course on, rolling in the swell and crawling along. Everyone was in good spirits and I think a bit tired, not sleeping like they should the night before port. The breeze died on us and then shifted so we struck all the sail and just drifted for a bit to kill time.
All the while squalls were raging over Puerto Rico giving us a brilliant lightning show, clouds outlined black with a tinge of orange/yellow from the city lights. The swell is still rolling in and we are getting some pretty good rolls now and then. I kept reminding myself this was my last watch and I just couldn’t get the idea to stick. Living on the ship for nearly 6 months and spending over 100 days at sea aboard her, its hard to think of the dramatic and complete change in my day to day life that will occur in just a day.
We kicked on the engines around 3am and I watched the lights on shore during my last rotation on bow watch. We left the deck excited to wake up having finished crossing the Atlantic ocean for the second time.
Going to sleep I thought about how the ship did not seem nearly as large to me now as when I first got on board. I thought about how standing on top of the royal mast, over 100 feet in the air on a rolling sea with nothing keeping me from gravity’s plans but my own bare hands, is no more than climbing a ladder at home. Crossing oceans and crossing borders. Sailing like this has given me a different feeling of the earth and the triviality of national borders and governments.
30 days of warmth, puffy cumulous clouds, and light breeze. We may not have had the best sailing conditions, but we made it safe, sound, and reasonably sane. A successful voyage.
