Friday 12 November 2010

Picton Castle at sea; Friday 12 November 2010 בס"ד

First hour of watch had me light the stove at 0445, which was quite easy this time. Then shot some twilight stars before scraping down the focslehead. I was fourth lookout and only observed an uninterested dolphin pass us starboard to starboard, and some seagrass float by. At the turn of the watch, we took in courses and began to motor. After watch, I laid in with Bosun's work, and painted the foretop buff. Then I sharpened two of my machetes with a file I had bought. I read, then had lunch, then observed a school of fish jumping a foot or two out of the water in a group. The sea was almost totally calm, so it stood out quite a bit, and I called them “Arafura Jumping Jacks,” when asked by a shipmate what they were. As it turns out, they were Skipjack tuna, so I wasn't actually far off, even though I was full of shit. Read some more, then napped until watch at 1600. We cleaned up the decks, and rigged up the power shower. Then I took a power shower once it was going. The Captain had us muster at 1630 so we could discuss Remembrance Day, Veterans' Day, Armistice Day, whatever you'd like to call it. It was a very interesting lecture about WWI and WWII, and Picton Castle's role in the Royal Navy as the HMS Picton Castle, minesweeper. After that, downrigged the awning, and was third helm easily steering WxN 1/2N then WxN 3/4N. It was easy to tell if I faltered off course even a quarter point because in the calm sea astern you could see what looked like a line being plotted on a chart by our wake that remained until it faded from view. We also almost caught a skipjack, but lost it. After helm, plotted position, ground coffee, and then our watch planned a skit for Sunday's marlinspike. After watch, worked out with my forearm fitness thing, and then read and finished The Lion At Sea before going to bed. Shabbat Shalom.