A typical Day
17 December 2016
Barbara cole
17 December 2016 0319 local time
06 11.865 N 143 30.120 E
290 T
Speed through the water 5 k
Speed over the ground 3.5 k
Wind 0.7 k variable direction
Swell 1-2 meters with period of 13 seconds
Tis a dark and cloudy night. The air is humid and heavy. We have the merest whisper of wind and it is raining. We are motoring the rhumb line to Palau and hoping the wind will rise soon. The moon is big and bright tonight but we can't see it through the thick clouds. Jupiter and a few stars occasionally peak through the few gaps. Despite having moved further north, we have not lost the Equatorial Countercurrent which is running a knot and a half against us.
I thought I might share how our days typically flow. Someone is on watch 24/7. The captain rarely naps during the day. Doing so has always made him feel terrible upon awakening. He welcomed naps as much as cats do a bath!
I stand a long night watch starting between 10 pm and midnight to give him a long rest. He sleeps as long as he can. Before dawn I hang a curtain over the companionway to make the cabin as dark as possible after the sun rises. He usually wakes between 5 and 6 am. I tell him all is well and send him back to bed where he usually sleeps another hour or two.
I make coffee and popcorn at the start of my night watch while he prepares for sleep. Most nights I don't need to wake him to help with the sails or other matters so he gets a long rest. I nibble popcorn through the night. Every 15 minutes or so I scan the horizon for ships and squalls, check our course, look for ships via AIS on the chartplotter, check the set of the sails or the engine temp and RPMs and quieten any rattles that might wake my love.
In between checks we both usually read. I set a 15 minute timer to be sure I don't get lost in my book too long. We especially enjoy audio books as it is easy to watch and listen at the same time. I usually use only one ear bud so I can also listen to the boat and sails. We read both Kindle and hard copy books but strongly favor eBooks due to the weight and space required for conventional books.
Every hour of so we make a log entry regarding the time, our position, the boat's course and speed, wind, current, water depth and any other pertinent information such as the distances and time to the next waypoint and our destination. We note birds that rest on the boat and sea life, such as whales or dolphins that come near us.
We have a hard and fast rule that no one goes on deck without the other to watch in case something goes wrong, which happily to date has never happened. We also always latch a tether to the boat when out of the cockpit. He rigs a jack line on both sides the length of the boat before the start of ocean passages. We latch onto the jack line, padeyes or shrouds when on deck. Staying aboard is of the highest priority in the ocean!
The person off watch sleeps in a sea berth. Due to the sometimes violent rocking of the boat at sea, we don't use our larger berths. Small spaces for sleeping are best. We rig a lee cloth for the port settee, a bench like structure in the main cabin that runs along the table. A lee cloth is bolted to the wooden support on the underside of the settee and tied by lines to the overhead handrail. The leecloth allows one to sleep without worry of being flung out of the berth. I put a pillow near my tummy to lessen my rolling around while sleeping. All of our berths are equipped with leecloths. There is less motion in the main cabin so we usually sleep there. We "hot berth" meaning we use the same berth. One of us is always awake and on watch.
At sea we have very limited access to the Internet through our Iridium satellite system, not enough to surf or use FaceBook. We are unplugged from the 24/7 news cycle which for the most part is very nice. We only know what is going on in the wider world if family or friends mention events in emails. While on passage we try to send an email to friends and family every day or so about where and how we are. As mentioned before we highly enjoy emails from friends and family when we are on passage.
We get weather data several times a day through the Iridium Go system. As you may imagine, weather forecasts are of high interest to sailors. We are finding the forecasts in this region to be poor probably due to the light and fluky conditions making local predictions difficult. We check the forecasts regularly but expect to just deal with what ever weather takes shape. In these variable conditions we make many sail changes. In higher latitudes the weather is more constant. Typically we go days without a major sail change. Where ever we are we constantly tweek the sail trim for maximum performance.
He often makes breakfast while I share details of my night watch and prepare for a nap. If it is not too hot, I sleep for an hour or two in the morning while he is on watch. I make lunch. Sometime in the afternoon I try to catch another nap but it is often too hot to sleep even with fans. We do various boat chores, write and read during the day. I make dinner and we wash up together usually before dark. I usually get a good sleep before the start of my night watch. We always enjoy sunrises and sunsets. During the day weather, magnificent clouds, the heaving sea, rainbows, planets, stars, the moon and passing birds, whales and dolphins are admired. The colors of the ocean offshore are amazing. Then it all starts again.