Sailing at night
Wallace's Sailing Adventure on "Arbella"
Mike and Vicki Wallace
Mon 10 Nov 2014 03:00
18:56.7N 64:42.8W On the entire passage, we have had a full moon for most of the night time hours…first waxing, then full, then waning! Even so, we were able to see many constellations and stars. Best of all, the beauty of the ocean, the breaking of waves over the bow (and, at times, into the cockpit), and the white caps were awesome…..and "the alien" aft was well lit. Below decks, the galley "gimbaled" freely giving a clear reference of what "level" looked like…or, in other words, how "heeled over" the boat was…which was generally about 20 degrees. The pictures show the galley (only the stove was "level'), and the aft cabin with the "lee clothes" rigged to keep David and I from falling off the bunk (or, worse yet, rolling into each other!)….David had the port side and the captain had the starboard side, where additional instruments are mounted for viewing while laying in the bunk….the blankets were not used for keeping warm…we were sweating bullets…they were used to help pad the lee cloth and make a "nest". But the rolling kept us going back and forth, just like the gimbaled stove rocked back and forth!! Sometimes, the night watch is as good as the day!
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