We crossed the equator today
gale-at-sea
Humphrey Gale
Tue 12 Mar 2013 14:58
We crossed the equator and are now in the southern hemisphere for the first time since leaving UK. I am regularly seeing the southern cross in the night sky on night watch. and to the east Scorpio, my star sign. also you will notice from the Longitude we are almost a quarter of the way around the globe from the Greenwich meridian
I chose for this passage to consciously not measure our progress in my mind ( e.g day x of y, miles completed of total passage, % complete ) and to relax into the pace and rhythm that the passage itself dictated. I knew it was about 5 -7 days and the weather and wind would be variable so it was also difficult to assess when we would arrive. It was successful experiment and I will try it again. It made the passage more pleasurable for me
There have been some lovely moments of nature to savour. the phosphorescence lighting up the night sky ( recent post) ; a pair of sea birds, turns, following and circling us for 2 nights in row ; a pod of dolphins in the evening sun coming to play off the bows of the boat ; 2 or 3 small pods of dolphins just passing by not stopping to play ; catching a small tuna and fresh sushi for lunch ; dawn on 2 mornings - I had moved from my normal 1 - 4 watch to 4 -7 am watch ; the calm and peace of light wind sailing alone on deck in the heat of the afternoon when the others were down below taking a nap ; my first sunset in the southern hemisphere.....savouring the moments
There was one difficult moment when a gull took a fancy to my lure and dived on it to make a catch. I was frantically reeling in as it made another 4, luckily unsuccessful, attempts to catch it. Attached photo is of the aforesaid gull. Raph, a young man of nineteen, has been a guest for this passage which has provided a welcome change and variation from the normal routine aboard
