Dear F&F,
June 8-10, 2009
The fact that I am happy to be motoring for my night shift 2 nights in a row says less about my passion for sailing but more about my weariness with \”video\” games. I described how tedious it is to keep the spinnaker flying in light air. We have had our wind disappear the past 2 nights. It gives me a welcome break from staring at the screens and turning the little knob. I did that duty during my noon to 4:00 p.m. watch. The first hour I feel like a spaz & struggle to find the \”sweet spot\”, where the boat\’s speed is fairly steady & the chute is full all the time. The second hour I get in the groove. Although I am not as skilled as the guys at helming in light air, I am overall making the boat go in the right direction without collapsing the chute. They each often listen to music with earphones. I am not (yet) able to maintain steering concentration listen to music. It takes my complete attention. I am just beginning to be able to have a casual conversation & do a decent job. By the third hour I am twitchy, bored and looking at my watch too often. By the fourth hour I can be in true pain. My body does not like to stay still. I have come up with several creative places to position myself as I play the video game with the remote control, but I am really DONE by the fourth hour. It is tedious, repetitive and seems more like work than fun. Scott tried to correct me when I mentioned \”my shift\”. He said it is \”my watch\”. But I said no, I am not simply watching. I am constantly working, so for me it feels like a shift where I \”put in my time\”. The guys seem to have endless patience for it. I get weary much sooner. If the wind is steady & stronger, then it is easier to keep her moving and is way more fun. Mid to heavy air requires a different kind of attention. I don\’t mind it as much. But we have had a lot of light air and more is predicted over the next few days. The swell has been on the beam (side) instead of the stern (back) so we are not able to surf & get any additional speed from the push of the waves. Just rolly polly, lumpy bumpy feeling as we are rocked from left to right, up and down.
From 8:00 a.m. to 8:00 p.m. we had a pretty good day of medium than light wind sailing. Scott blessedly came up to spell me at 3:00 pm. I hadn\’t eaten much lunch so I made us an early dinner, leaving Mike\’s burgers out for him to cook when he got up. Scott then got on the Pan Pacific Radio Network to check in as he does daily at 4:00 p.m. Lucky for me, Mike came up & took over the watch so I could really be off. Since Scott & I have switched our watch positions I am getting more rest. It has been much better over the past 24 hours. Also getting the guys to cover for me so that I can do my cooking duty while it is my watch time, helps me really get to be off when I am supposed to. Such a relief. I was really running myself ragged & didn\’t realize exactly what was wrong.
When on motoring watch, I go outside every 20 minutes to make sure the auto pilot is steering the correct course, monitor our Speed Over Ground, look at the engine rpms & gauges to make sure all is well there, keep an eye out for ships & hopefully give the boys a peaceful 4 hours.
Skye turned 24 today, June 10. When did that happen? Happy Birthday to You!!! Aren\’t we still 24???
Scott & Cindy