20 19S 157 07W
Libertyatsea10
Fri 20 Aug 2010 12:43
Highlight of the day was coconut rice and peas by Grum with roasted vegetables, roast potatoes for Benj. We have to use all the veg apparently before Raro. we are not alowed to take veg or honey in and this is strictly monitored I am told.
I dragged myself out of a clawing dream, being slowly smothered by an orang utang, who considered I was in his space in a jungle somewhere. Even so I was still reluctant to wake up and haul myself into my watch. The humidity is high, very high, everything feels salty ,greasy and damp. As I climbed out of my bunk I was sure water had come in, it is so salty it even feels chilly to the touch. The lightest clothes feel too heavy and suffocating. We even have the forward hatches open to create some air, unheard of because a good wave in there destroys everything, but the sea is still and flat and we are desperate for air, so the risk is taken.
I am sure my spirits move in inverse proportion to the number of hours we motor....I feel disoriented and clumsy on watch..the motion of the boat is lumpy as we have no sail up. The breeze of 7 knots is right behind us so we cannot sail , the genoa does not fill, so we have to roll it up to motor. I spend an hour tip toe ing around, going off course to find some breeze, barber hauling the genoa to coax it to set,, but no joy. So what to do when the clanker is on....NADA . We are superfluous really, auto helm steers, clanker propels and we sit around trying to find a space where the fumes are not pervasive. Navigation is almost automatic and the odd glance around to see if an unlikely ship or trawler is passing is the only pastime.
We have had a reasonable day under spinnaker with light airs, but reverting to the engine just makes me irascible. I notice that someone has has the last precious juice from the five litre bottle and has not refilled the bottle. Hydration is so important, it is a cardinal sin to leave the container empty, so I snap shortly to remind. Where did this misereable Skip come from! I hanker after the Fastnet days with the guys from On Deck, but I realise that memory has a way of painting a gentle rosy hue!,,,,
So here we are, about to pass by a tiny island which is not accessible to us but is only 20 metres above sea level, and people live there..how can this be. The only way we could visit is to motor around the island whilst launching the dinghy to go over the reef as it is 400 metres deep outside. We will not be doing that but for a moment I thought it might be interesting as I am not sure any yachts will have visited.
This patch of sea is not normally so quiet and benign in fact it is known for nasty weather. There is a long ridge of underwater possibly sunken islands which when the weather gets up, creates an almighty sea. The effect of the trade winds and the convergence zone meeting also apparently does strange things around here, so we are lucky I suppose that the weather is sleepy.
So I guess updating the diary has been a bit therapeutic, count my blessings and get over it!
And my watch is over and I have an Orang Utang somewhere in sleepy land to deal with......
xxx