I had a short watch from midnight to three last night and had a good sleep afterward. Feeling good, I even manage to get in some stretching exercises while on watch in the cockpit. Very awkward, though, especially as we were heeling over quite a bit.
I don’t remember if I have touched on the watch schedule yet. We are running watches around the clock. And as on most ships, a watch is four hours long. The problem one runs into is that if you only run four-hour watches with three people, the schedule never changes. He who starts at midnight always starts at midnight. To remedy that, each day, one of us gets a three-hour watch. So one short watch once every three days for each person. This will bring the whole schedule for the next day one hour forward. If I start at midnight today, tomorrow I’ll start at eleven and the next day at ten. Trust me, it works. I have written it out, and we’re back to square one after twelve days of ‘watching.’ And we are well surpassed these twelve days getting to Christmas Island.
We’re doing very well on time now. Over 100 nm daily and around 90 -100 in the right direction. We anticipate Christmas Island within two days now, 147 nm to destination.
Generally, after coming off a watch, it is time to sleep. From the cockpit, at the back of the boat, go forward, down the stairs, to the inside. On the left is the galley, kitchen. On the right, the head, washroom. Forward from these are two six feet long settees, one on each side of the boat, running into a bulkhead, a wall. A door in that wall leads to a proper double sleeping berth, good for when you are in a marina or at anchor but useless at sea, as it is much too bouncy that far in the front of the boat.
So, two settees or couches and three crew. I finish my watch at three, and Steve takes over from me. He takes his sheets and pillow off the couch, and I put mine on and go to sleep. When Steve completes his four hours, Marco comes on, who now sleeps across from me, and Steve takes his place. And so on. As of ten in the morning, we’re generally all up until well after dinner in the evening, with occasionally somebody taking a nap during the day.
So no, if anybody had any illusions of us retiring to our rooms at any given time, not going to happen. And I think that’s why I like night watches so much. It really is the only time you can be on your own. In the cockpit, by yourself, alone on a big wide ocean. Magic! Forget those guys sleeping in the cabin for a while.
