Saturday 9 October 2010

Picton Castle at sea; Saturday 9 October 2010 בס"ד

Morning watch now hosts routine workout sessions, with forearm exercises, pushups, and 6-minute sixpacks. We told stories for a while, and then I polished the stove. Stood fourth lookout and reported distant lightning flashes dead ahead. Woke up at 1030 and read some Casino Royale. Once on watch, I helped Brad set up an inner jib patch “station,” which was a piece of plywood lashed to the jib boom. Most of the watch was bracing at one point and then we did the epic three-man spanker set with Rebecca and Jan line-handling and me aloft freeing the hanks. Swapped third and fourth lookout with Brad so that he could stitch the patch on the inner jib, and so on third lookout the only thing I had to report was a big flock of seabirds dead ahead which might indicate fish. However, nothing bit the lines. Final hour of watch I was helping Nadja with ingredients for pies she wanted to make and I came up on deck from the hold and saw that [person] had fainted and vomited (in what order I don't know) and was being attended by Vicky, Shawn, the Captain, and the Mate. Everything was alright, thankfully, and there were no injuries. After watch, got ready for South Africa Day, which had been repeatedly postponed since we actually erased that day from the ship's calendar when we arrived in Fiji. Davey helped me dress up as the Tokolosh, which is a scary little South African monster thing. We had a Brai (SA for BBQ) and I actually had a lot of fun pretending to be this mischievious little monster, running around hiding under pinrails and sneaking up on people with a cackling chuckle. After the celebrations, I finished reading Casino Royale and went to bed.