Thursday 9 September 2010

Picton Castle at sea; Thursday 9 September 2010 בס"ד

Morning watch began with overcast skies, but no rain. Before muster I enjoyed a piece of bread with honey for Rosh Hashanah and had one sip of the worst coffee yet made before chucking it over (and trust me, we get some bad coffee, but at 2345 you'll drink anything to help get you awake). I stood first helm steering NNW and then NW xW3/4W. Second hour, I polished the stove, this time using Nadja's technique, which I like better: wire brush the stove, then dampen the stoveblack rag. The difference was quite noticeable, I thought. Halftime to 0300 I just sat upon the quarterdeck, then final hour I was the sole passenger watchman, standing midships and checking the salon head every fifteen minutes for puke and/or overflowing toilet. From the beginning to end, one guy who is sleeping in the hold came up for fresh air and passed out on the hatch, only to leave at the turn of the watch when a roll nearly slid him off.

Woke up again at 0945 from the baby crying. Organized photos and made a small pouch for my headphones form the fabric before lunch. First on watch, Jan and I began repairing Sophie's sea chest, which was trickier than we originally thought. During the second hour, a squall passed by and so we quickly moved the chest into the carpenter's workspace and took in the kites and spanker. Once it passed, we reset the main tgallant staysl and outer jib. Stood third lookout, and the weather was nice but nothing to report until the very end when I told Rebecca about a squall off starboard. Shipcheck was fine, but as an extra precautionary duty, we have to pump the salon head thirty times. Fourth hour I cleaned a planer, then hung out upon the quarterdeck to see if that squall I reported would get us sail handling. Talked with Tiina about linguistics for a bit. At the end right before muster, the Captain came out and told us to stow the royals, which were loosed for drying, so I ran up and stowed the main royal with Dave. I'm still not super great with the dog ear thing, but practice makes perfect. Upon laying down to deck, Rebecca and Paul noted that it was impressive my kippah didn't blow off when furling the royal, but I told them I've had lots of experience with yarmulkes and wind resistance. Read “From Kauri Trees to Sunlit Seas,” before and after dinner, which is quite interesting and relevant to what the Captain wants to do with Zebroid and also to what we're doing right now (I heard Mate Mike mention in Palmerston that Zebroid might be renamed the Tiare Taporo after a schooner that did runs in the Cooks), and the book also mentions some of our friends from Palmerston. Also hung out and shot the shit with the bros. It's 2300 right now, 30 minutes until watch wakeup.