Perfect Day

Moorglade's Voyage
Ted Wilson
Wed 26 Jun 2013 16:54
Our Position is 39:19.36N 43:17.45W
Distance logged in last 24 hours 149
Nm
Distance from Flores 565 Nm
The last 24 hours have been excellent, particularly
for the skipper who had the 21:00 to midnight and 06:00 to 09:00 watches last
night. With ships time now sensibly aligned with the sun, I saw the sun set, a
beautiful red ball, after back lighting the cloud, then had a couple of hours of
darkness. A large pod of dolphins cruised past with their bodies glowing
with phosphorescence and the stars were at their best in a clear sky, before the
moon rose on our bow. First a rather eerie glow behind cloud on the horizon and
then the apparently larger than normal nearly full moon shining a path to the
boat.After an undisturbed nights sleep When I came back on watch the moon was
behind us and the sun about to rise back lighting the cumulonimbus
towering up from the horizon. By the time coffee and breakfast was prepared and
eaten my watch was nearly over and John was coming up from his cabin.
The morning was spent chatting while watching
successive large pods of dolphins speed by, some of them leaping high out of the
water.The only break from routine was when we decided it was time for the
stitches to be removed from the wound in John's elbow and that nurse Jim
was the man for the job. Actually it was a bit of an anticlimax, no screams of
pain and over in a flash.
We have sailed close hauled on starboard tack in
light winds for 24 hours, making a respectable run in the right direction,
without touching the helm or trimming the sails. The weather is wonderful the
sea blue the clouds spectacular, our water tanks, batteries, and stomachs full,
the transition from day to night and back inspiring, what more can we ask. It
may be that without fear and frustration ocean sailing would not be an adequate
challenge and would leave us without stories to tell at the bar but, the
reason we do it, is for days like the last one.
Later tomorrow I fear we are back to
frustration.
|