Southern Lights
Rhiann Marie - Round the World
Stewart Graham
Sun 14 Nov 2010 22:20
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Monday 15th November 0718 Local 2118 14th November
UTC
12:17.52S 143:18.73E
All through yesterday we motored on.... and on.
Last night we motor sailed in light airs from way behing the beam. We managed to
get an extra knot of boat speed from that which was helpful but not a big
fuel saving. The heat through the day was stifling, so due to the fact that we
needed to conserve fuel and to try and get some breeze we took a short cut up
the East side of Oz and threaded our way inside the outer edge of the Great
Barrier Reef. There was little improvement in breeze but it did seem cooler and
it was definitely shorter and was outside the "two way shipping
route".
There was all kinds of lights on show. Cardinal
markers, sector lights, beacons, isolated dangers and port and starboard
hand markers. Red was to our starboard as the direction of bouyage appears to
be clockwise round Australia. There were also racon beacons and still
occasional ships and fishing boats around. Ashore there were occasional
settlements lit up in the distance.
The star filled heaven was very clear
directly overhead. There was an occasional shooting star making its dramatic
exit from the myriad stars. Orion steadily cartwheeled it way through the
equatorial southern skies above. Over to port the waxing half moon was
sinking steadily into the black cloud surrounded horizon.
Behind the cloud for about 180deg behind, to the
side and overhead we had a spectacular show of sheet lightning. Big lightning,
but no thunder and no rain.
Then out of the distance swung two white lights one
with three reds below it and another red to one side. The lights were travelling
at well over twenty knots and closed very quickly on us. This indicated a ship
constrained by its draft in its ability to manouvre. About 5 to 6 miles out,
before I had a chance to alter course for him he was on the radio very abruptly
and briskly telling us to move out of his way. It was poor radio form
but I guess the guy was stressed out charging through the shallow reef
system at over twenty knots in an eight hundred foot ship and a draft of over
12m! (Strange isn't it, ships lengths are given in feet and their draft is in
metres on AIS?)
There were lights of all kinds everywhere and it
was magical working up inside the reef in such conditions - if only we
had some breeze ........
Trish took a full watch from 0300 to 0700 and I got
to go to bed, getting up only once! Talking of sleeping wait till you hear
my latest sleep management trick. Now, in the ocean it is fine to cat nap and
work off radar alarms and visual lookout overy twenty minutes to half an hour,
but coastally and especially inside the maze of the barrier reef this is not
possible. So when the desire to sleep becomes too great I have been standing up
against a bulkhead or on the cockpit seat looking over the sprayhood. In a
suitable part of the passage with some clear water you can close your eyes for a
minute or so as a proxy for sleep. If you try to fall asleep your knees
give way waking you up (banging your chin on the sprayhood frame in that
location!). Doing this several times refreshes and recharges and fends off sleep
for another few hours and your eyes are only
off the road for a couple of minutes at a time.
Normally after a long dark night, dawn is
welcome but I think on this trip the cool of the night may be preferable. I will
keep you posted |