Enter the Tropics

Lovesail
Mon 16 Jan 2012 18:30
22:40N 020:54W
Monday, 16 Jan 1200 UT
Last night while on watch we crossed below 23.5 deg N and into the tropics
– horrah! Although no warmer yet.
Wind increased through the morning so we were able to make good way under
sail. Mum made delicious coleslaw for lunch which was much
appreciated.
![]() Sea increased through the afternoon, at the moment looking out onto falling
sun over navy seas expanding to the horizon, the yellowing sun dancing off every
crest. It really is a beautiful thing to be able to be out here and just
see the sea and the life and the waves. Its very meditative. You’re
sense of scale changes. The sense of maximum - on watch under a starry sky
with the incredible perspective of distance and space, the heavens literally
curving around you like a velvety embrace. Then you pass a really tiny
weeny jellyfish floating by and suddenly you are drawn into the micro scale –
the way a wave breaks, the other zooplankton that must be floating by, the
little bubbles that are formed in our wake, the gas exchange happening and
feeding into the water cycle (or maybe that is just the marine biologist in
me).
![]() I’m on dinner duty and making gnocchi with a salad. Bungles is
putting Lovesail to bed and readying for the watch handover. There is a
little sea bird that has been coming and going all afternoon. I wonder if
it will come on board this evening for a little rest with us. Where is it
going? How long has it been out here? Where does it get fresh water
to drink? These are the questions you have time to think about.
Nighty night |