Light and Steady
Where Next?
Bob Williams
Mon 4 Aug 2008 18:17
Course: South southwest Speed: 2.5 knots
Wind: North northwest, gentle breeze
Weather: Overcast with patches of fog
Daily run: 55 miles
Last night – it’s starting to get a bit dimmer around midnight, though
certainly not dark, as both sun and Sylph are now on their respective
journeys south – the wind left us drifting amongst some islands to the
southwest of the entrance to Disko Bay. I considered going to anchor at one
of them but decided to stay drifting so as to be ready to pick up any wind
when it arrived. This decision had me sticking my head out of the
companionway hatch every 30 minutes to check our position and sniff for a
breeze, at 5.25 a.m. my sniff smelt a light drizzle which had brought a
light breeze with it. I hauled the sails back up and tacked out to sea
clear of the rocks and islands. Since then the breeze has continued light
and steady and we have been able to make an average of just over 2 ½ knots –
Yahoo! Patches of fog keep me on my toes looking out for icebergs. The odd
one reveals itself from out of the fog before becoming enshrouded again, but
it’s not too bad, in fact I just went on deck at the end of that last
sentence for a look around, there is a large iceberg about a mile off our
starboard bow and for the moment I have clear visibility all round.
I am feeling itchy to be back in temperate zones once more.
I have just had another look around, visibility has closed in, I can no
longer see the big iceberg and the breeze is easing.
All is well.
Bob Cat:
It has now been nine weeks since I was pressed into service on this vessel
and what I don’t know about boats a cat couldn’t write about. Like most
voyages to the arctic regions it is driven by a madman.
I have come to observe in my years of close proximity to the species homo
sapiens sapiens that they are in general a very peculiar kind of animal,
mostly thrive well in groups and they like to accumulate lots and lots and
lots and lots of useless junk. In particular they seem to be enthralled by
a box which emits coloured lights and noise, they can spend absolutely hours
in front of this device, often it has a panel in front of it which they
fiddle with incessantly with their front paws, or sometimes they just sit in
front of it somehow hypnotized. Why don’t they just go and have a good
sleep I ask myself. Now skipper Bob is a little different, he has two small
boxes of dull coloured lights, one he uses quite a lot, the other hardly at
all and he doesn’t have one of those big bright noisy ones. This would be
something he and Mary seem to have in common.
You may be asking and why have I concluded that the skipper is a madman.
Well, yawn, it really is, yawn, getting, yawn … maybe tomorrow … zzzzz.