Saturday 25 December 2010

Picton Castle at sea; Saturday 25 December 2010 בס"ד

Woke up at 2330, and mustered with the 12-4s to some of their surprise. I was put on the rotation as fourth helm. The weather was nice, and I spent most of the time upon the quarterdeck just chatting with the others. Yo and Pania were in the galley baking all sorts of Xmas stuff. At 0245, Yo asked me if I could stand third helm and she fourth, as she wasn't done cooking, and I certainly agreed. Stood third helm, steering WNW with ease, although the wind would be blowing force 4 and then lighten up, which would cause the ship to fall off, and then when it would pick up again, she'd round up quickly. It was my first time steering since before Bali, and my first time steering under sail with nice fair winds in I don't know how long. Stood my hour, filled out the log, then hung out until 0345, when I did final shipcheck. I decided to do a double watch, and so I mustered with the 4-8s, also to their surprise. I was assigned first helm, and so I went to relieve Yo, who had relieved me just before, and she was a bit confused to say the least. Steering was even easier this time, now that the wind was blowing more consistently, and halfway through, Nadja had me go from WNW to NW*W*1/2W. After helm, Nadja and I shot morning twilight as Bracken scribed, and it was great because I got to use a very nice sextant. My sights very closely corresponded with Nadja's, so my accuracy was probably very good (although I didn't find time today to calculate my sights). While deckwash happened, I cleaned the scullery for the oncoming galley team. Then I laid in with soogie, and Michael Stevens and I and then Shawn went into the hold to unlash and make ready the BBQ and some plywood. It proved a bit difficult to get the stand out, as it was Cape Horn-lashed in a nearly impossible to access corner to the overhead by the wood pile. We got it though. Watch below, and then a truly gigantic breakfast, where I ate like a champ before going to my bunk and passing out DTW for real. Woke up at 1430, and people were getting ready for the present-opening ceremony under the tree. At 1500, the Captain came out and wished all a Merry Xmas, and I hopped on the galleyhouse to take photos with a million cameras. The ship tradition is that the most senior and most junior crewmembers hand out gifts, so WT and Megan distributed them. I did end up getting a few, including a nice shirt from the Captain, a varnished, Rasta-colored coconut yarmulke from Nadja, a dick in a box from Yo (the penis-shaped wooden bottle openers that were ubiquitously available in Bali), a small carving from WT, a coin bag from Tiina, a letter from Joani, a beer from Brad, a drawing from Taia, and interestingly, Jan and I received very nice Picton Castle model kits as gifts. The other day, Bronwen had posted a letter on the scuttle saying “two people interested in PC models see her ASAP,” and Jan and I, being the two most interested people, signed up. We didn't think we'd get actual model kits as gifts though, so it was a nice surprise (I thought we'd have to purchase them!). I mustered with the 4-8s, so I could stand watch with them again, and was put on third lookout. It was mostly an Xmas marlinspike for the watch, and I partook in the dancing once the music came on. I even danced a bit on lookout. Dinner was at 2000, because the whole pig that was roasting on the BBQ took a long time to cook. It was quite a feast, and after the meal I laid in the scullery cleaning dishes. Read more Sea of Glory before going to bed. It was a nice Xmas, and I found that as long as whenever somebody said “Jewish,” I just told them to “forget Jewish, it's Xmas, celebrate your damn holiday! Merry Xmas ho ho ho, etc etc” that they did, and the focus was where it should be, on Xmas, not Fred and his lack of Xmas spirit. I had a very nice experience with this holiday I so often dread.