Pacific Crossing, Part VII — The Night Watch

It is April 17 and we have completed 14 days at sea as of 9 AM this morning. Hah! And I thought I could never do it. I had always said I could never, and I mean never, imagine myself so far away from land. Well, here is living proof, that one should never say never as that is exactly what you will end up doing. It has been true for me many times during my life.

To celebrate two weeks at sea we had a glass of wine and a snack of nuts and raisins and raised a toast to the fine winds we have been having lately (ps the wine came out of a TBA 1 liter slim from Chile - quality was so, so; and the nuts were rather poor particularly in comparison to the world class nuts we had become accustomed to in Lebanon, Turkey and Iran. Oh yes, those were the absolute best!! And just for the record, we are saving the good wine to celebrate our arrival to Marquesas.)

Another night watch ahead of me. Luckily, I have the sunset and the moonset to distract me. Tonight the sunset was quite lovely as there was a clear sky but for a few wispy clouds here and there. I had my camera out and as I lean out of the boat, stretching my arm as far as it can reach hoping to get that magical shot of the sails, boat and sunset all in one, I'm happy Jens is below so he doesn't worry I might fall out or drop my camera.

Taking the sunset photos keeps me busy for about 15 minutes or so.  Then I have some time to read before it gets too dark. I can always use my headlamp but it is not my favorite thing to do. The book has to be really compelling. Otherwise, I reach for my iPad and play some games - Sudoku, Solitaire, or Angry Birds, or watch a movie. And then I wait for the moonset. I know I won't get a photo, but I can look longingly at it and think of how beautiful this world can be.

I have six hours ahead of me to think and do nothing but contemplate life before waking Jens at midnight. I often think about the wonderful people in my life and the many places I have been and the things I have done so far. I can't say my life has been boring. Interesting, sometimes exciting and perhaps a bit unusual, but not boring. And then I imagine how I would like the next 30 or so years to be.

Mind you, I sometimes also spend a lot of time thinking about rather dull things. Lately I have been working on making bread. I had tried the no knead bread recipe last fall without success. I liked the idea of a bread that you didn't need to knead. A lazy persons bread. But, for some reason, I just couldn't get it to rise. So I gave up and switched to beer bread. I soon got tired of that one and on this trip Jens wasn't prepared to donate his beer anyway, so I went back to experimenting with the no knead bread. I had read a few articles about making bread on the Internet and deduced that I had one of two problems. Either too much water or the yeast was insufficient either in quality or quantity. That leaves only the flour but I have to assume that the flour is fine. Well, the water one was solved. It is extremely humid here so I reduced the water. But the dough was still not rising very well. So I used more yeast and tried activating it with some warm water and a bit of sugar first. That worked really well and we now have some great homemade, crusty, chewy bread. So much better than some of the bread we had been buying which was all air and had the consistency of styrofoam.

As it gets darker the sea becomes a mysterious place. The waves make strange noises and I start to imagine things. What if there are monsters in the sea, knocking against the boat, thier breath making those strange pouffing sounds as they are climbing over the hull, making their way into the cockpit. They could grab my ankle and pull me into the ocean and Jens wouldn't notice until morning. No, don't be ridiculous. That's just silly.

Ok, so then I get to thinking about the mole on my shoulder that has been itchy and maybe suddenly it has turned into a cancerous growth that is eating away at my bones and muscles. No wonder my shoulder has been aching. I thought it was from sleeping on it for too long. Hmmm. I wonder if we will get to a doctor in time to save me.

Well, I have to say, that even though the mind can play little games now and then, we always find our way back to the rational reasonable world. That even though it is pitch black except for the twinkling of the stars and there is nothing but miles and miles of ocean around me, I know there are no such thing as monsters. And I am pretty sure it is just a harmless mole. Oh, oh. What was that noise. It sounded like something at the stern. Is it a giant octopus clinging to the ladder, slowly making its way on board, its tentacles slithering up into the cockpit. Maybe it is already there, hiding in the dinghy, its big eye peering over the edge, just waiting, watching...