Saturday 15 May 2010

Picton Castle at Sea; Saturday 15 May 2010 בס"ד

A lumpy 24hrs it has been and still remains. The night watch started with wake up from Brad stating, “It's freezing and raining and lumpy so wear layers and foulies.” However, when we got on deck it was tolerably warm, and so after our muster I went back below and removed some layers. Jackropes had been rigged midships, and we were told to stay at the quarterdeck if idle. I had been assigned fourth helm, so after an hour I helped clean the galley shelves with Nadia and Jimmy. I put on the stoveblack also. I returned to the starboard quarterdeck, but after a few minutes, Meredith asked me to accompany [person] on the midships deck. I found [person] there seasick as a dog. So I stayed with [person] and did my best to make [person] feel better, though I don't think I had much effect. I also slacked lines that were tightening in the drizzle. There I remained until my helm duty. Shortly after I relieved the helm, the seas became significantly lumpier. I was steering due south, which wasn't terribly hard to maintain. The hard part was holding on for dear life when the ship bucked like a rodeo bull. In the binnacle, there were times when I couldn't even see the compass because of the pitching. While I was at helm, the watch rigged up jackropes on the quarterdeck as well. By the time watch was over, my arms were super stiff from the OH SHIT grasp I had on the helm. I went below to the relative calmness of the forepeak and slept like a baby despite the pounding of the anchor chains in the hawsepipes.

At the start of my day watch, the seas were still quite lumpy, but in daylight it was a bit easier to deal with. I wore my bathing suit and a beater and no footwear since the air temperature was quite comfortable. I, along with Georgie, was put on first lookout. Since the focslehead was a nightmare to walk fore and aft from, lookouts were put on the bridgewings. I was on port and just held on to the shrouds as I scanned my 180° field of view. I didn't see anything, however, for my whole hour. The next hour on the quarterdeck was fine, and I practiced with my sea legs, which was not easy. At one point a huge swell splashed starboard and sent a wave of spray clear across the quarterdeck and even over the charthouse, thoroughly soaking us all. The latter two hours of watch saw a big increase in swell size and wind force. This is when, I regret to say, my nerves got the better of me. The look on my face was apparently one of pure dread and terror, as I held on the jackrope for dear life. I felt the way I do on rollercoasters; not nauseous but rather extremely anxious. The swells were easily as high as the quarterdeck, and the one time I sat down on the veggie locker, we rolled to port at such an angle that I was almost vertically hanging from the nearest backstay. I hope that I conquer my fear enough to at least not freeze in nervous tension, but today's watch let me know I'm still quite a lubber. At the end of watch, Niko cut his finger open while trying to get through the forepeak to the salon on the watertight hatch. He got stitches for his injury. The watertight door is heavy and you must time it exactly right between rolls, which is impossible, and I've literally been flung about more than once trying to pass through it. It's now been lashed open though. Just read more Master & Commander and going to bed. I'm being tossed around my bunk now, and I'm really hoping that it calms down in the next three hours, though I doubt it.