The Eight to Twelve Watch
12 November 2017 | 26 52.92'S:179 44.11'W, South Pacific Ocean
Larry Green
It is just after midnight and I just came below after my evening watch. Tonight, the only reminder that we are in the South Pacific was the stars. Some are the same stars we see in the northern hemisphere, they simply look upside down when picking out a constellation. Some are not visible in the northern hemisphere, one in particular is the Southern Cross. We are actually still pretty far north to be able to see it especially when there are clouds near the horizon and I have yet to see it in its entirety. Our Kiwi shipmate pointed out one of the tips of the cross but the entire cross was not visible.
Why are the stars the only reminder of the South Pacific you may wonder? Well mostly because it is a pretty clear night and getting cold. It is as cold here tonight as I can remember summer nights in Maine getting. It is probably not really as cold as I think it is but I needed long pants and a jacket on watch and I was still cold. I, for one, never thought of the South Pacific as being cold. For most of us the location conjures images of tropical islands, grass skirted girls, clear blue water and balmy temperatures. Well, there is not a tropical island within a few hundred miles, the water is clear but dark indigo blue because it is thousands of feet deep, I have yet to see a grass skirted girl anywhere and the temperature is no longer balmy! The water temperature has dropped nearly 10 degrees, to 79°F. It is still difficult to remember it is Spring here, and Summer arrives less than a week before Christmas.
I digress. Standing watch at night is probably the most enjoyable part of sailing. During the day, or on a short passage generally everyone on board is up and going about their daily routines or engaged in sailing the boat. Virtually all the cooking and cleaning is done during the day, the cat box gets cleaned out, people socialize and of course do boat stuff, like get weather reports, check in on radio nets do boat maintenance or sail the boat. At night everyone except the person on watch is usually asleep, early. Our sleep habits are disrupted on a passage as all of us are up for 4 hours during the night, then off for eight hours before going back on watch during the day. So naps during odd hours of the day are normal as is getting to sleep early in the evening. Some would find it curious that being alone, on deck of a small boat with nothing in sight beyond that boat, except stars and clouds and periodically the moon would be enjoyable. It is the only time that all you can hear are the sounds of the sea and the boat. It is the only time you can look up and contemplate anything, or nothing, or everything and see the universe in every direction you look. And when you look you see wonderous things like more stars than can be imagined, some of them shooting off in some unknown direction as they burn out (or whatever it is they do) you see bright objects that at first look like stars or planets, but you soon realize they are moving in an odd way and conclude they are NSA satellites spying on you or Google tracking your movements (or whatever it is that they do) and sometimes you see things you can�'t quite figure out so you make something up. Usually an alien spaceship comes to mind since they can take any shape or form and move in whatever weird way they want and no one is there to contradict you or say you could be nuts.
The real beauty of standing watch alone at night on a huge ocean and a tiny boat and the entire universe overhead is you can think whatever thoughts you want, whether serious, what is the meaning of life and why am I here thoughts or what are those aliens up to tonight, I hope it is not my night to go up to their ship or �...�...�...�...�...�....More later