Friday, March 4, 2016

Sailing Along - Easter Island to Pitcairn

On this sail I finally made it aloft! Went up one evening to help stow a royal (the highest sail on a mast). Also made it out on the bowsprit to watch the sunset one night. Another day there was a double rainbow behind the ship. 


We had some smooth sailing, some days a little rougher. One morning I found water all over the aft pantry floor - the kettle had auto-stowed itself in a horizontal position. While cleaning that up I noticed some of the water was coffee coloured, found the source of that was the iced coffee in the fridge (which must've sloshed over the rim because the jug was upright). So the fridge got a good clean. When I thought all was well I went to refil the dish soap bottle, a wave came and in catching my balance I spilled soap on the floor. In case you aren't aware, it's very tricky to clean up liquid soap. All this in the space of half an hour. 

One morning we had some squalls come in that resulted in a 04:30 all hands call. We manage it well and got the ship going away from the storm in an organized chaos kind of manner. Although it was dark and rainy we weren't heeled over too much which was nice. 

I started "Baking Club" on this sail. On Day 5s a few of the girls who like to bake have free time in the afternoon and come bake snack with me. It's fun to have different company and they enjoy doing something homey and different than deck work. 

Worked a bit more on celestial navigation, another noon height and started learning about star sights. That's a bit more confusing and it took a couple sessions to begin to get my head wrapped around it. The mates were also into celestial nav and made a chart, as they would've in the days before GPS, showing our position a couple times a day. 


Speaking of stars I happened out on deck one night when there was no moon and no clouds and the stars were amazing. Out in the middle of the ocean there's no light polution so it's a spectacular show. 

Deck crew continue their varnishing projects which ends up making it feel like the ship is boobie trapped with various doors, railings and benches being wet or sticky throughout the day. 

The last day before arriving in Pitcairn the students had a "snow day" without classes and no deck duties till 10:00. The maritime crew continued as usual so my day was about the same. 


As always these sails are same, same but different, just like life anywhere. 

1 comment:

  1. Cool! Enjoyed the read! Thanks. - Betula Gramps

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