Saturday 20 November 2010

Picton Castle at sea; Saturday 20 November 2010 בס"ד

Woke up at 0330 and everybody showed up except Nadja, so we figured we were being tested to see if we could assign ourselves to duties. We did and it went well, but still no Nadja. It turns out that she didn't get a proper wakeup and was still sleeping, and it was not a test, but it took us a few minutes to figure this out. I precomputed the morning twilight stars, and stood second helm steering NW1/2W. Yo was our “navigator,” which meant that she'd fill out all the hour logs instead of the helmsman and also plot our position and determine our Course Made Good True, log, etc. After helm, I shot stars with Bracken's nice sextant, which is way easier on my eyes than the cheapo plastic practice ones. Deckwash, and fourth lookout because our original fourth lookout felt ill and went below. I reported lots of trash floating in the water, amidst which I saw schools of fish and dolphins playing. Sad. Watch below, and I reported to the Bosun department to lay in with some work. A marlinspike was scheduled for tomorrow and it's theme would be 90's high school dance, so I asked Sophie to the dance. She said yes, and then told me to scrape excess roofing cement from the maintop floorboards with a turpentine rag and a putty knife. From aloft, I could see literally endless fields of floating and semi-submerged trash, and there is really not a more poignant way to emphasize how terrible ordinary littering and pollution is until you see the dolphins swimming in it, unable to choose a different, cleaner area of sea. It was a shame, and I'm definitely not one of those Greenpeace “save the planet” types of people. I finished removing the spooge before lunch, helped clean up the paint locker, and then had lunch. After, I repaired my hat and made a new lanyard for my spike. At 1500 we hosted a volunteer workshop for DB about planes. My part of the workshop was teaching him about airport security. It was a pretty funny workshop that taught DB how he'll be molested, arrested, and/or get laid if he did anything other than shut his mouth the entire time he was aboard. Mustered for watch, and as first lookout I reported only a very large piece of floating trash that might have been a refigerator or small boat. We set fore-and-aft sails, and I was the assigned naviagator for watch so I filled out the log and plotted our position every hour. We caught a Mahi, and I bagged it and put it in the freezer. Wiped down soot from the quarterdeck, had dinner, did galley clean, filled ingredients buckets, ground coffee, and watch below. Jan found a joke book and so he and the forepeak looked for good and bad jokes. Then bed.

Friday 19 November 2010

Picton Castle at sea; Friday 19 November 2010 בס"ד

In the morning, I precomputed the stars, and came to a weird realization. I asked Bracken how to reconcile the fact that if I look up twilight->AP->arc-to-time->new twilight->new AP->new arc-to-time, etc etc, I would end up perpetually redetermining everything, much like dividing something in half perpetually. Bracken told me that we don't move fast enough to really need to account for that, and also that it is never going to be perfect because you're using estimates to figure out the general spot where you should be looking for a star. Of course the results change every second that passes, and so the accuracy must be in the recording of sights with the sextant and the chronometer; not in the precomputation, but in the post-computation, if that makes sense? Yes, it does. Stood second lookout, and had nothing to report. As the others were getting there star sights in, Bracken and I took in all sail on our own, not that we had much sail set. At dawn, I woke Siri (as per her request) to let her know we were going to scrub the mizzen, something she and I enjoyed last time we had to do it. We went aloft and scrubbed it with special rags from the engineer, and pretty much everybody joined in and got filthy covered in soot. We did a soapy deckwash after, rigged up the awning, soogied down, mopped and towel-dried the quarterdeck, then helped the sailmakers get their canvas ready before watch below. After breakfast, I did some log typing and photo uploading, and helped hold up the sole board behind me as Siri got rigging supplies. There were dolphins playing around, so I got a video of Lorraine enjoying them on the focslehead before lunch. Back below, Joani gave out scraps of canvas and duck, and I gave my external drive to Liam so he could swipe all the photos I've swiped from everybody else. Then I buzzed off my moustache, as I was tired of it. Helped rig up power shower and took it too. We had a Bali discussion amidships since we're fast approaching. We then set fore-and-aft sails before I precomputed evening twilight stars with Dapper. Then we took in and I stowed the mizzen staysl before dinner. Galley clean and bucket wipedown, then fourth helm, with an awesome sunset, not that I care much for sunsets, but the sun was huge in a way you don't get back in the Poconos. Shabbat Shalom. At muster, we were officially told that tomorrow morning the new system of deciding our own rotations would be in effect. Below, I hung out in the salon and studied the Able Seaman and Lifeboatman course guide book with Lauren. Did my forearm workout, then went to bed in my bunk. Shabbat Shalom.

Thursday 18 November 2010

Picton Castle at sea; Thursday 18 November 2010 בס"ד

First two hours of morning watch were uneventful, and so I began scraping the focslehead at 0545 and stopped at 0645 and swept up the mess. Took fourth lookout, with nothing to report but a few dolphins, but when I told those awake on the well deck that there were dolphins, they just busted my chops. Helped rig up the awning, then watch below. Typed logs, took a nap, then lunch. Typed logs, took a nap, then watch. Rigged up the power shower, and took one too. At 1630, piloting workshop part IV and review. We learned about basic collision avoidance, which I had a good grasp of already. At 1730 I took second lookout, then after shipcheck had dinner and Vicky birthday cake. After dinner, we set some fore-and-aft sails, then I went into galley cleaning. Precomputed the evening twilight stars with Dapper, although only Yo got a sight. Ground coffee, and at the end of watch muster, learned we're about 20nm from some Indonesian islands, and also that we're going to try a new system of just assigning ourselves to do hourly rotations instead of having our lead seamen tell us what to do. Did the after watch well deck workout, then joined others on the aloha deck for a sophisticated birthday wine party, and I had a very nice time talking with Vicky, pretty much our first in-depth conversation. Ended up there until 2345, then slept on the hatch.

Wednesday 17 November 2010

Picton Castle at sea; Wednesday 17 November 2010 בס"ד

In the morning, I was first helm, steering W1/2S. Plotted chart position, and then later Bracken was like “WHY DID YOU USE PEN?!?!” and I was certain I had used a pencil, so we looked at the writing utensil holder and an open pen had dripped ink into the bottom, tainting the pencil tip with the black ink we use to fill out our official log but never to mark our charts with. Scraped the focslehead deck, did galley wakeups, and watched as Nadja went aloft on the mizzen and wrote in the soot “WE "heart" CHRISSY.” Did a soogiedown, helped the sailmakers get their sails upon the quarterdeck, then watch below and had breakfast. I typed up the MOVEMBER article for the Captain's Log on the website, and then I wrote this log and then had to help carry sails to the quarterdeck. I began typing logs, as I'm nearly six weeks behind! Did that until lunch, had lunch, then continued typing before taking a nap. Before evening watch began, I rigged up the power shower for 1600. After that, we had piloting workshop part III, about set and drift, vectors, etc. I asked a question about the process to determine current is finding the difference between course and position and if that makes it CURRENT made good true, as it doesn't account for changes in the current, just the mean difference. I was told that technically, yes, I was right, but it's a dumb question because it needn't be that accurate to account for current changes in a few mile stretch of open water. I learned that currents are named for where they GO, not like wind, named from where it comes. A northerly wind and a southerly current move in the same direction. I relieved helm at 1745, plotted at 1800, dinner, and third helm again steering W1/2N. After helm, the wind started blowing, lightly, but it came aft a point from being a headwind so we were able to set most fore-and-aft sail, which was great! After watch, well deck workout and then washed my towel. I threw my Akamaru stinkwood overboard, as it was just too stinky and I was afraid with the heat and moisture in my bunk, it might get up and walk around and kill me in my sleep. Then I slept on the hatch.

Tuesday 16 November 2010 [TIMOR SEA]

Picton Castle at sea; Tuesday 16 November 2010 בס"ד

I was on galley today, so I woke up at 0615 in our new time zone. Clark and I set up for breakfast, and Tiina joined us afterwards. After breakfast, I scraped the cutting board in the scullery because it was in need of desperate overhaul. We did our basic galley duties until lunch, and then after lunch I napped on the aloha deck. Woke up to a possible prank, or maybe just inconsideration, that every single cup was dirty and stacked nearly to the overhead, but I washed them regardless. At 1630 we had a piloting workshop part II, and we learned about how to quickly compute relative bearings and compass bearings to true bearings on a chart. Also learned a “coastwise trick,” that being that if you take the relative angle to an object on the bow and continue on course until it is doubled, the distance run is the distance off, because it creates an isoceles triangle. Had dinner, and I was asked to decorate Dapper's birthday cake, so I drew a stick figure with just red arms and a brown beard, otherwise invisible, because Dapper has serious farmers' tan. After dinner cleanup, had a forepeak mini-party for Dapper, and then I had a workout on the well deck before sleep on the hatch.

Monday 15 November 2010

Picton Castle at sea; Monday 15 November 2010 בס"ד

In the morning, I stood first lookout, again with glass seas and stars reflecting perfectly to the ship's wake. I had to step over the people sleeping on the focslehead. After lookout, Bracken explained the lack of wind was based largely upon the Monsoon, and went into the basics of how it works to create different winds in this part of the world. Shot twilight stars, and did galley wakeups at 0615. Did deckwash, wakeups, rigged up the awning, and then watch below. After breakfast, I laid in with the bosun department, painting primed wire seizings on the shrouds. Did that until lunch, and went below, where the forepeak was actually cooler than on deck, although still over 100°F. I passed out DTW, and when I woke for watch at 1530, it was as though somebody had taken an entire sea bucket and splashed it in on me and my bunk, I had so completely saturated my living space in my own sweat. I helped rig up the 1600 power shower, and partook in the washing. At 1630 we had a workshop on piloting and chart skills. We split into four groups, and my group was led by Bracken on the aloha deck. While teaching us, we were literally catching about one skipjack every 2-3 minutes, and it took him about 30 seconds to pull it in, snap its neck, and throw it in the sea sink before resuming the lesson. We reviewed terrestrial navigation and how bearings are more accurate if they're actually further away, as there is less error in the angle. I relieved Nadja from helm at 1745 steering W1/2S. Plotted at 1800, had quick dinner, then took third helm steering W1/2S still. Many fish were caught, and I finished helm, plotted our position, determined CMGT and log, and then Bracken assigned me to clean out fish, so I learned how to gut a tuna and cleaned three. Watch below, and our total fish caught on this watch numbered over twenty. I did my forearm workout, and reset my clocks as we would be retarding the time to ZD-9. Went to sleep on the hatch, then below on my sea chest, then in my bunk.

Sunday 14 November 2010

Picton Castle at sea; Sunday 14 November 2010 בס"ד

In the morning, stood first lookout, and the sea was as calm as glass. It was impossible to determine the horizon, as the stars reflected almost perfectly down to the edge of the ship, where our bow wake erased them. I reported a red light, but it turned out to be a rising star. I precomputed twilight with Brad, and then was the scribe for the star sights. Got deckwash started, but then took fourth helm steering W3/4N. Skipjacks were spotted fine on the port bow, so Bracken told me to steer straight for them, and BAM, all five lines got hit, and by the time we took off a fish and threw the line back, it got hit again instantly, resulting in six tuna in 30 seconds. Later on, I saw several sea snakes slither by. Watch below, and then passed out until lunch. Then I started preparing for the marlinspike, by taking a scrap piece of plywood, and writing “THE DECK” on one side, and “TAM & FRED'S KISSING BOOTH” on the other side. The theme of the spike would be “Bizarre Bazaar,” and people were creating stands of various eccentricities. For our pre-bazaar skit, the 4-8s would do a hyper-version of our daily routine with music and impersonations. I scraped “THE DECK” with a scraper, and Katelinn played “William Tell Overture” as we ran about the quarterdeck. The highlight in my opinion was was when Lorraine came out dressed as the Captain, and did a spot-on impersonation of him checking stuff out on the quarterdeck and telling his orders to Bracken. Then I got a shave from Shawn, who had his own barbershop for gentlemen. Tammy and I opened our booth on the starboard main deck, and I wore a black tie. We advertised “Kisses: Price Negotiable – Beer Welcome,” although I got my first kiss in exchange for getting dunked at the “Are You Smarter Than A Mate?” dunking booth, where they had staging set up and three buckets overhead, and you were never smarter, so you always got dunked. Back at the kissing booth, I got a surprising number of kissing requests, and a more surprising number of beers! Success! I also helped serve ice cold lemonade. Then, as the bazaar was coming to a close, I helped rig up the power shower before my watch started. I precomputed evening twilight star positions, but I messed up the first time, then I fixed it but I messed up something else, and finally got it right the third try. I was then called down for our official Movember Moustache Competition, which was entertaining. Of course, we had a fish strike right at the begin, and all the moustachios ran to pull it in, but it was gone by the time we all were aft. Back to the competition, after an impressive display, WT was crowned the victor, and rightly so I must say, as his stache was supreme. I did a DR position with Nadja because the charthouse nav equipment was temporarily shut down while an engineering issue was resolved, then did third helm steering W1/2S, during which I saw sea snakes and dolphins. Bracken had me take our position at the end of my helm from a handheld GPS, since we were steering very finely and constantly adjusting our course due to variation so that we had maximum fuel efficiency. Fourth hour, I cleaned the deck, and then scribed while people did evening twilight star sights. It was still stiflingly hot, and so I went to bed on the hatch again.

Saturday 13 November 2010

Picton Castle at sea; Saturday 13 November 2010 בס"ד

I was first helm in the morning, steering W3/4N, then W/12N. People then shot stars for morning twilight, but there weren't enough sextants available for me to as well, so I scribed. Then a very productive focslehead deck scrape, where I tackled a good ten square foot area by the starboard ladder. Several sea snakes were seen slithering on the surface. We also caught some fish. I was fourth lookout, and reported two squally bits off of the port bow. I saw a pod of dolphins as well. The sea was a dead calm, and the dirt and algae were visible in the water. After watch, I overhauled my harness buckles by removing the corrosion and applying aluminum primer to them. Then I asked WT and Sophie if it was okay if I TSPed, scraped, sanded, and repainted white my bunk, which was starting to be really nasty. It was, and so I did that for about two hours, then put a coat of black paint on my harness buckles. At about this time, we had seven fish caught at one time, all five lines being hit and the first two to go back in after being de-fished were struck again instantly by skipjacks. I then reassembled my bunk until watch. At 1545 I helped rig up the power shower. At 1615, we had a discussion about our passage to Bali. I had second helm steering W1/4N, during which the watch planned more for our skit we'd perform tomorrow. Dinner was sushi and sashimi, which was excellent. Cleaned the galley, and TSPed the square things cabinet doors and repainted the blue trim. Saw another sea snake, then shot stars for evening twilight, which is more difficult because you must find the stars as they appear, versus already seeing the star for a while and shooting it before it disappears. We realized we hadn't ground coffee, so I did an emergency fast grind before being stood down. I got a copy of Full Metal Jacket put on my flash drive by WT, so that I could give it to Bracken. We'd been talking about it all day and thought it would be funny if he imitated the drill instructor for the skit, but only he and I were familiar with the references, so we need to search out a copy to demonstrate. Finished reassembling my bunk, then did a well deck forearm workout, and slept on the hatch, since it was becalmed enough to do so and way too hot to sleep below. Today the temperature was 102°F on deck in the shade, and there wasn't a breath of wind except our own apparent wind we made as we motored along the becalmed sea.

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.

Thursday 11 November 2010 [ARAFURA SEA]

Picton Castle at sea in the Arafura Sea; Thursday 11 November 2010 בס"ד

Got a wakeup at 0355, and on deck at 0400 with Nadja and Brad. Brad made coffee, and I readied the water and juice and then cleaned cups in the scullery in anticipation for an all hands groggy wakeup. At 0430, all hands on deck, and at 0500 I was in the chain locker making sure the cable was properly flaked with Davey. At 0530 the off watches were stood down. We loosed the topsls, I on the main, and set them. At 0615 I was on helm steering with extra precision using terrestrial navigation; W, then WxS, then W1/4S, right easy, steady, etc. At 0700 did a soogie down and windexing of all glass. At 0730, I was summoned to relieve Liam from the helm so that he could film (which he's been doing for Ollie since he left) an 800ft tanker overtaking us on port side as we both entered the Prince of Wales Channel, which is only a mile wide. It was pretty cool steering extra carefully, more like a car than a ship as I had to maintain adequate space between the outer limits of the channel and the overtaking tanker, the RMS Gladstone I think. Nadja stood by the helm, just in case I messed up, but everything was fine. At 0800 I was stood down, and at 0815 all hands were on deck and watertight bulkhead doors sealed as we entered the narrowest parts, just as a precaution in case we ran aground. Right after breakfast, we saw two sea turtles pass by starboard, and it seemed that the one was humping the other. Turtles need love too. I read on the hatch until 0845, when it was cleared to go below again, where I read a bit more and then passed out. Woke for lunch, and then I asked Mitch for his photos since he took some action shots and videos of me steering through the straits, then I read some more. At 1600, we were sailing along in the Arafura Sea with a nice wind blowing us along. WT had me put some primer on the main tgallantstay wire seizings, which I did fine, but when descending from my position on the fife rail, I handed somebody my aloft bucket full of paint and didn't realize the brush lanyard was wrapped around my harness, so the brush flicked up and got primer drops on deck, a serious fuck up. Luckily I was right there and quickly got a rag with some 004 on it to wipe them up. Then I was sent to tar the mizzen topmst seizings, which I did with extreme care so as not to spill even a droplet of tar. Deck clean, dinner, galley clean, coffee grind, final shipcheck, watch below. After watch, had our welldeck workout session, then had a Portuguese lesson with Sophie again, which this time was a hardcore approach to pronounciation. Then I read and went to bed.

Wednesday 10 November 2010 [TORRES STRAITS]

Picton Castle at anchor, Twins Island, Torres Straits, Australia; Wednesday 10 November 2010 בס"ד

Woke up for morning watch, and it was pouring down rain. It was 0359, and we still were standing around in muster waiting for Nadja to give us our rotations, but she never arrived. Finally Bracken yelled down to us SOMEBODY RELIEVE THE HELM! So I ran up to the quarterdeck and took the helm. Nadja had not gotten a wakeup, it turns out, but instead of being idiots we should just do stuff instead of standing around. I was steering NW xW 1/4W exact. There were several ships and a flashing bouy in sight. After helm, slacked out the rigging, trimmed yards, and bailed the skiff. When we did deckwash, I was the hoseman. Right after deckwash, we caught two large king mackerels, one which I bludgeoned with our Fijian warclub. We soon afterwards caught a large barracuda, and then again two king mackerels which were smaller, and we threw back one. I helped clean up the fish blood with the hose. Then Bracken told me there was a problem in the chain locker, and so I took UK Rob below and we checked it out. It was a problem alright, as the starboard anchor cable pile had capsized. Whoever had flaked it out last time had flaked it out too steeply in a pyramid form, thus when the seas were lumpy and the ship was rolling heavily, the top of the pile capsized down, causing bights of cable that would definitely not pay out. Rob and I began the physically demanding task of unflaking over two shots of cable over to the port side. He swapped out once we had done that, and Dapper, Mitch, and I reflaked the chain properly on starboard. Once done, we returned to deck filthy, and then set the inner jib. I then ran aloft to overhaul some slack into the mainsl bunts. Watch below, and we had breakfast pancakes and pears (I love pears)! I then wrote this log up to now at breakfast, and Robert H observed that I was writing everything down that happened, so he said I am a motherfucker to see if I'd write it, which I obviously just did. Went below and finished England Made Me, then I began to read “The Lion at Sea” by John Harris writing as Max Hennessy. At 1600 back to watch, where I got to do some ship's work and removed old paint and primer coatings with my spike from the wire seizings on the port fore topmst backstay. At 1700 did second helm SW xW 1/4W, then SW 1/2W, then SW. I was relieved early so I could stow courses. 1800 dinnertime, and it was Siri's birthday! Cleaned the galley and we had an all hands muster about our approach to the Torres Straits. The current was not enough for us to beat the tide, so we were going to anchor in the lee of Twins Island at about 2000. The Captain and Mate had been hoping to time the approach at maximum advantage, since the Coral Sea and the Arafura Sea have two completely independent tidal systems, one diurnal and one semidiurnal, which created crazy currents that could either be very advantageous or disadvantageous pulling and pushing through the straits. After the muster, I ground coffee quickly and had UK Rob take a video of me explaining our current situation. I finished coffee grinding just in time, as it was UP AND STOW ALL SAIL, and I stowed the main tgallantmst staysl with Vicky. We waited a bit as the ship bore down on her anchorage, and then we dropped the hook, and my watch was stood down. An anchor watch was posted, and I was slated for 0400, and all-hands wakeup at 0430, so I really got the whole night except half an hour. Read, then went to bed.

Tuesday 9 November 2010

Picton Castle at sea; Tuesday 9 November 2010 בס"ד

First lookout in the morning, and I could see a faint glow on the horizon from the lights of Papua New Guinea. I also observed submerged flashes of light in the water, which were maybe jellyfish or something else, I don't know for sure. We then had to take in and stow tgallants, and I went up on the fore with Yo. It was hard to see at the time, but once down to deck, I noticed that I had bird shit smeared all over my torso from leaning on the yard which some seabird had used as a toilet. Went to scraping down the focslehead, which I must say I've become excellent at, by keeping my scraper razor sharp and applying good elbow grease. Then, TAKE IN ALL SAIL and once we'd done that we began to motor again. After taking in all sail, we did deckwash, during which the deckbrush I was using snapped in half. Instead of soogieing, I was tasked with cleaning off the scum that had grown on our holystones, which was like a black, moldy, growth. After watch, I fashioned myself a new handle for my forearm fitness device from the broken deckbrush handle. I then read and finished To Kill A Mockingbird. Had lunch, and then began reading “England Made Me” by Graham Greene. I've been blowing through books lately. After a bit of reading, I made a repair list for 801 Olive of projects I'd like to do when I return. Then I read more, and shaved my face except my moustache. At 1600, at the turn of the watch, we took in royals and tgallants, and I stowed the main tgallant and flying jib. Sails have been set and struck continuously with the variable light winds which often blow from ahead. WT sent me to the hold to find a box fan, but it was already taken by Chris in the engine room. At 1630, we had a quarterdeck discussion on the Torres Straits, which we were rapidly approaching. At 1700 I steered NW xW and I was told to be EXACT in my steering. While steering, I saw large seabirds circling us and I tried to imagine what it would be like to be in a ship in WWII in these parts being strafed by Japanese warplanes. I filled the log, plotted our position, CMGT (303T), log (8kts), etc. After dinner I cleaned pots and pans and ground coffee. Slacked out lines, halyards, braces and started singing my own version of Zombie by the Cranberries. I sang, “In the head, in the heaaaaad, Poopies, Poopies, Pooooopies-pies-pies.” I felt quite clever, but then I went back to the quarterdeck and one of the Japanese bomber birds must not have liked my song and I saw it coming straight for me and then Weeeeeeeeeeeeaaaaaaa BOOM BOOM BOOM BOOM, I was carpet-bombed by his white bird feces. People were sitting on both sides of me, and only I took not one, but four direct hits. Joani was struck by some splatter that bounced off me, but otherwise, only me and a straight line on the deck in front of me were hit. I didn't sing poopies anymore. After watch, I photographed myself covered in white splats, then took a shower, cleaned my bunk out, and read. I also gave Yo a bottle of wine and an apology letter that I still owed her for whipping her in the eye with the bitter end of a line while we were in Vanuatu. Then bed.

Monday 8 November 2010

Picton Castle at sea; Monday 8 November 2010 בס"ד

The clocks were retarded an hour now that we were observing ZD-10. I was on galley, and so I got my wakeup at 0615 and was told it was raining. I got on deck, and it was raining, and the sea was a bit lumpy, and my watch was slacking rigging. Donald told me to refill the flour, so I went to the hold with the flour bucket and did so. Then I returned to deck and it was MADNESS! The call ALL DAYMEN ON DECK went, to get more hands on deck. The call to take in the tgallants had gone, and somebody had cast off the sheets, so that the sail was flogging wildly before the yard. Once that was under control and bunted up (with no damage, thankfully), ALL HANDS ON DECK IN BOOTS, as there was lightning cracking about us. The seas got lumpier and lumpier and we had some good swells tossing us about. Everything was in a state of orderly chaos, but quickly the situation was sound and off watches were sent below. I set up for breakfast in the salon with Frankie and Taia. Pretty soon the rain passed, but the wind was still blowing freshly and the seas were still turbulent. Lunch was set up on the aloha deck, and we had to stand soup guard to make sure the big pot of soup didn't pour out when the ship rolled. In between lunch and dinner, I stuck around the aloha deck cleaning dishes and refilling coffee and hot water and juice as needed. I hung out with Sophie, Chris, and Shawn for hours there, just shooting the shit. Dinner was also served on the aloha deck, and it was starting to calm down now. After galley duty, had a beer with my team, read for an hour, then went to bed DTW.

Sunday 7 November 2010

Picton Castle at sea; Sunday 7 November 2010 בס"ד

In the morning, I stood third helm steering NW xN. While I was steering, Brad was soogieing the scullery skylights when he shrieked in terror! Alarmed, we all wondered what had happened when we saw a small gecko crawl away. This got a laugh from everybody. Nothing else noteworthy happened on morning watch, and once below I read, napped, and then woke up and finished Riddle of the Sands. For afternoon watch, I was second helm steering NW xN 1/2N. At 1945 we loosed and set royals, I on the main. After watch, I worked out my forearms with Lorraine. Then Yo and I discussed the book “To Kill A Mockingbird” and I said I didn't really remember anything except Boo Radley, not having read it since grade school. She had just finished it, and so I took it and read for an hour, before going to bed. The clocks will be retarded an hour tonight.

Saturday 6 November 2010

Picton Castle at sea; Saturday 6 November 2010 בס"ד

This morning I was first lookout, and reported lightning off the starboard bow. In the final minutes of lookout, I saw two ghostly figures approach the bow and dance off the port side of the stem, but it was still not quite twilight, and as UK Rob came to relieve me, I pointed them out to him. They were dolphins or maybe even pilot whales, but it was too hard to determine and they just looked like phantoms. Anyway, they quickly vanished. At twilight, I attempted to shoot my first twilight star sights, and managed to get a sight of Canopus with Bracken's assistance, but I was having difficulty bringing the stars down to the horizon and focusing with my glasses on or off. At best I could get it halfway down. We braced square, then got to scraping the focslehead. It wasn't long before we were pulled off that to LOOSE ALL SAIL. I loosed the main royal, both main topsls, and mizzen staysl. Then we set all sail. No cleaning this morning as it took the remainder of watch to loose and set all sails. Watch below, had breakfast, then went below to finish Gulliver's Travels. I then passed out, and woke for lunch. After lunch I began reading “Riddle of the Sands” by Erskine Childers. I went on deck to get a drink of water, and just as I emerged it was TAKE IN ROYALS. There was an approaching squall on the port quarter, and so I harnessed up to go aloft, but by the time I was ready, there was already sufficient people stowing. Back below, and read some more. On deck at 1530, and the squall had just passed us by. I went to the coffee station, and in a rare occurrence, our whole watch seemed to be getting a cup of coffee at the same time, so we had a pre-muster muster, where we competed to see who could drink the most coffee (Bracken and I had four mugs). I was on first helm, steering NW xW 1/2W, during which time the royals were loosed and set. After helm, I plotted our position and determined CMGT and Log. I then taught Megan the basics of using a sextant. Bracken and I also did a paper test to determine log, by throwing a piece of paper overboard from the port well deck bitt and timing how long it would take to reach Bracken with the stopwatch at the quarterdeck break. We compared the log speed with the GPS Speed Over Ground, and determined we have a 0.5kt fair current underfoot. Had dinner, then took in the kites, inner jib, and foretopmst staysl. Went out and stowed the flying jib and up and stowed the main tgallant staysl. Then a team of us worked to overhaul the spanker over the clew, which was the issue causing the poor chummy stows. Once that was rectified, I put a proper chummy on. I was then fourth lookout, and within the first ten seconds, I went back to the quarterdeck to report a massive squall that had not been previously reported. TAKE IN ROYALS, and I went aloft to stow the main royal. BAM CRACK! Lightning astern, and I'm up on the royal yard stowing, so if I hadn't been doing it quickly before, I sure was now. Once stowed, I laid down to deck with rapid descent, and was told to stand lookout from the quarterdeck. Soon, we took in the mainsl, but didn't stow on account of the lightning. Watch below, and as we were relieved from our muster, it started raining for the 8-12s. Today the stars aligned to give us all the bros at 2000, so we had a “BRO MEATING – SATERDAY,” as written on our whiteboard. Besides our usual schemes, Mitch and Clark were both nominated for brobation. After the meeting, I read more Riddle of the Sands, then bed.

Friday 5 November 2010

Picton Castle at sea; Friday 5 November 2010 בס"ד

In the morning watch, I steered second helm with a course of NW xW 1/2W. Before that, in the first hour, I did precomputations for twilight sights. While I was on helm, several of the others shot a total of 14 sights of 7 stars. Bracken had me adjust course to WNW at two instances, and then return, so that the sextant-users would have a better line of sight without the yards in the way I think. Finished helm, then FISH ON!, and I went to the aloha deck and pulled up a small barracuda, which we threw back to the sea. I filled out the log, then plotted our position and determined our CMGT and Log. A breeze came and we were sent to loose the tgallants and royals (I got the main tgallant). We set all sail and ceased motoring, making a good speed of about 6kts. We then set up to do deckwash, but the there was not enough charge for the hose, so it was canceled. Did a thorough decksweep instead, and then a pinrail soogie. After watch and breakfast, I laid in with Bracken for ship's work. He was searching for his bung cutter 15/16” size, but couldn't locate it, so instead I helped prep the old skiff on the galleyhouse for caulking. Payed in the seams with cotton/oakum, and removed the chainplates and cleaned up under them, then Bracken and Nadja came with the caulking guns and did the job. Went below, read more Gulliver's Travels, had lunch, read again, then took a nap. A 1600 workshop was scheduled on Tacking: Theory & Practice. I was 1^st lookout for 10 minutes or so, but the wind had pretty much died out in the last half hour, and so the “practice” part of the workshop was canceled and we instead got a quick lesson/refresher in tacking procedure. We really don't have to tack much, since as the Captain had pretty much told us after we crossed the line months ago, “We'll be on a port tack for the rest of our lives,” which has held fairly true, mostly changing tacks only when piloting in or out of a harbor. Then, with all hands already present for the workshop, we braced sharp on a port tack and began to motor again, as wind was barely blowing a force 1. Then UP AND STOW ALL SAIL, and since everybody was available, it was a quick, good, and efficient stow, if not crowded aloft. The final piece of stow work was the chummy on the spanker, and so I jumped up on the boom and tried to give it, but something just wasn't right and it came out looking awful. I tried fixing it, but was called down for dinner. Two ships were sighted right after we took in sail, which was a shame because here we were, a fine sailing vessel, under steam, and it probably looks odd if not just wrong. Of course, if we had our sails set, we'd just be bobbing in the sea becalmed, but still. After dinner, a squall was building up ahead, so I changed into my tropical foulies (swim trunks), and began to prep buckets for freshwater collection. We saw the gap closing and closing, until finally it hit, and blew hard and windy for a bit, and then became quite light but continual. For the rest of watch, we slacked rigging, and I did wakeups. Once watch below, I went home to the forepeak and many people were having a party within. Sophie and I met in the salon and I began lesson #2 of Portuguese with her. Once finished, I returned to the forepeak, and it was still a party, but I was exhausted and turned in for sleep. Shabbat Shalom.

Thursday 4 November 2010

Picton Castle at sea; Thursday 4 November 2010 בס"ד

In the first hour of watch, a squall came and we had about 15 minutes of 6+kt sailing. Then back to light airs again. We braced up a point, and I lit the galley stove with difficulty. Once the sun was up, went to scraping the foclsehead from 0600 to 0645. Stood fourth helm steering WxN. After watch, I laid in with Bracken for work. First we placed the barrels in the cradles and made sure they were seated properly, then lashed in place. Then I was put on chiseling down the focslehead deck bungs that were popping out. I did that until it was done, then went below and read. Had lunch, read more, passed out DTW. 1530 wakeup and I swept up the focslehead. I then helped the sailmakers return their sails from the quarterdeck to the sole. We had a 1630 workshop on tides and currents. At 1730, we took in all sail, and I stowed the gaff topsl. We then reset the inner jib and foretopmst staysl. Had dinner, and went to third lookout, during which I reported a squall two points off the port bow. Later, Bracken called to me from the well deck saying he needed some “left forearm” for bunting up the foresl nice and tight, so I helped him do that. Ship check, made coffee, watch below. I then had a Professor Fred's language workshop, this time in Hebrew 101: The Alef-Bet. Only Megan attended, but I didn't care and taught her alef through yod. Then I finished part III of Gulliver's Travels and went to bed.

Wednesday 3 November 2010

Picton Castle at sea; Wednesday 3 November 2010 בס"ד

Today I turned 24.5, not that that matters much. Actually if I'm being technical I'd have to consider the time and date difference and figure out when 1806 EST is, but whatever. I stood second helm steering WxN. After helm, as the sun came up, our watch wrote a note for Chris regarding Swedish supermodels that pretty much told him we had to fire up the engine. We took in all sail and started steaming. I led the hose during deckwash, and then soogied. Towards the end of watch, I laid in helping the sailmakers get their sails up on the quarterdeck. We hooked up with a huge marlin during our muster, but lost it, much to everybody's dismay. After watch, I laid in with Bosunry projects. Sophie and I moved the focslehead water barrels and I put wood underneath them to prevent them from scuffing up the foredeck. Then Bracken stole me and we began to make actual barrel cradles out of 2x4s so they can sit sideways. Doing this, I learned how to scribe wood. I made two cradles, but one of them I really botched quite badly and this wasn't evident until it was completely assembled. Bracken just put it on the blue shelf and we made a new one, more carefully this time. During the construction process, I ended up getting a very thin, curvy piece of wood after using the jigsaw, that I gave to Sophie for use as a paint stirrer which also doubled as a marriage proposal, apparently. Had lunch, and scribed for Dan and Liam as they shot noon. The sun's declination was supposed to coincide with our latitude today, and we got our best reading as 89°55´ at 1219:45. I took a quick rinse off to get the sawdust and grime off me, then went below to read more Gulliver's Travels, then passed out. I woke up for watch, and helped rig up the power shower in the starboard main shrouds. At 1600 we had a power shower, and then I helped clean up the deck. I then had a fifteen minute conversation with the Captain about books. At 1630, we had a buoy and ATON workshop which lasted about an hour. At 1730, we braced square and set all squaresls. Had 1800 dinner, then took the helm steering NW xW 1/2W. A breeze picked up, and hands braced on a starboard tack and set all sail. I then was steering NW and then NW 1/2W. I was relieved at 1915 after all was said and done. We set the spanker and gaff topsl next. Then Bracken asked me to repair the charthouse lamp with electrical tape. Slacked out lifts and other lines until the end of watch. Once below, did the well deck workout, and was chatting with Sophie about things when she said she wanted to learn Portuguese someday. I let her know that not only did I speak Portuguese, but I always want to teach people and I'd be happy to, so we set up in the salon and I began to teach her the most basic of basics about the language. Then I read, and went to bed.

Tuesday 2 November 2010

Picton Castle at sea; Tuesday 2 November 2010 בס"ד

In the morning I was put on first lookout, with nothing to report. During watch, we scraped the focslehead deck, then took in all sail and motored, since we continued to have light airs that we couldn't use at all. While deckwash and soogie happened, I was put on scrubbing the overheads in the breezeways, which were covered in some weird grimey stuff. Yes, I'm probably shorter than the ideal overhead scrubber, but you get jobs and you do them, doesn't matter if you like it or not. Anyway, I did like it, so there. After watch, continued reading The Cruise of the Conrad, and finished it. Then I began reading “Gulliver's Travels” by Jonathan Swift. Did that until afternoon watch, and at 1600 I began cleaning the paint locker. Then we set all sail when the wind returned. At 1630 we had a charting workshop part II, and we broke into groups again and learned stuff. I was second lookout, during which we braced in and I tended the foresl tack. Had dinner, did dishwashing at the seasink, and did the coffee grinding. We had a quick lesson in precomputation for twilight star sights, then watch below and well deck workout. I showered afterwards, read, and went to bed.

Monday 1 November 2010

Picton Castle at sea; Monday 1 November 2010 בס"ד

First hour of morning watch, I lit the galley stove. Second hour on lookout, reported a cumulonimbus squall off the port bow. Third hour we began to scrape down the focslehead pitch, then did a deckwash, where I was the hoseman. Fourth hour was a super scrubdown and soogie. Had breakfast, went below and read more Cruise of the Conrad, and passed out. Woke up at 1145 to prepare for another noon sight. Got a noon sight with our LAN 1208. Had lunch, and went below to read more. At 1600, cleaned up the well deck, and I stowed and lashed the wood from the mast tops that had been removed to the galleyhouse. I also was taught the spanish windlass technique when told to apply it to the skiff lashings. At 1630 we had a chart workshop. At 1720, when it had finished, I took the helm steering due W, and it was easy, using only one or two spoke turns to keep her steady. At 1745 the dinnerbell rang, and I was relieved early so I didn't fill the log. Did a galley clean, sweeping the sole, scrubbing bulkheads and mats, and grinding coffee. Then I did wakeups for the oncoming watch at 1930. There were three ships around us, probably fishing trawlers because they were brightly lit and not really going anywhere. I also learned more about the star Antares and that it appears red. After watch, did a well deck workout, and Bronwen asked me if I'd do a Captain's log article on Movember, since it was pretty ridiculous that everybody had moustaches. I agreed, then went below to read more and went to bed.

Sunday 31 October 2010

Picton Castle at sea; Sunday 31 October 2010 בס"ד

Today was a busy day as we had a small amount of people on watch and a lot happened. At 0400 I stood first lookout, reporting only an airplane early on. At 0445 I reported that the headsls were backing, and shortly after we took in the inner jib and foretopmst staysl. After shipcheck, I was put to work overhauling two deckbrushes that were beat up pretty good. I had to take a hacksaw to the one that had a rusty bracket holding it together. I didn't get to finish reconstructing them with new brush heads however, because at 0600 I woke Shawn to report to engineer's duty (he's dayman engineer now), and we took in all sail. Then up and stow tgallants and royals, and I stowed the fore tgallant. There was an electrical storm astern of us closing fast, and we stowed very quickly before being called down to deck. I was fourth helm, and we tried to outrun the squall. The wind was quite variable from the quarter. Steering WxN at first, then the Captain came to me and told me to fall off two points to port, so I came to WxS. After helm, I plotted our position on the chart, then we were stood down for breakfast. I worked a little more on the deck brushes after, then, with the squall gone, we set all sail. I laid aloft to loose the main tgallant. Then I did my laundry, and began to read “The Cruise of the Conrad,” by Alan Villiers. I cleaned out and organized my ditty bag, then shaved my face to form only a moustache yet again, as today was to be the moustache shaving day for all who would participate in MOVEMBER, aka Moustache November. I then prepared for getting a noon sight with our local apparent noon (LAN) actually being 1200 (that usually doesn't happen). The quarterdeck was incredibly hot and foot-burning. I got a noon sight along with Dapper, Brad, Liam, and Yo. Had lunch, and then computed our data on the well deck. The call came to take in the foresl, which we did, then resumed our computations. Then the call came to take in all square sail, which we did. All day we'd had light airs and variable winds. After all the sail-handling, I went below, and read more Villiers, then napped. Woke up at 1530, and once on deck we set some sails again. I stood first lookout in my sandwich mask (it is Halloween), and I reported an orange buoy float by starboard, which turned out to be a lost halloween balloon that blew off the well deck (sorry environment). Then we had a Halloweenspike, complete with CANDY. I was on and off helm with Brad, relieving each other so that we could enjoy the festivities. We were steering WxN. I filled the 1800 log and plotted our position. I was too full from candy and cookies and rice krispy treats and other treats to even eat dinner, but after dinnertime I laid in cleaning galley dishes. Stood fourth helm steering W and then W 1/2S. There was lightning distant, but it was not coming our way. After watch, a well deck workout, then showered, read, and went to bed.

Saturday 30 October 2010

Picton Castle at sea; Saturday 30 October 2010 בס"ד

Woke up at 0615 for galley duty with Dave and Niko. We were motoring in the morning, but later ended up sailing. Besides normal galley duties, our daily task was to clean the coolers. I finished “The Mauritius Command,” and I refilled juice, water, hot water, and coffee in the time after lunch and before dinner. After dinner it rained. I studied Hebrew below, and went to bed.

Friday 29 October 2010

Picton Castle at sea; Friday 29 October 2010 בס"ד

Woke up at 0330, and was assigned wakeups and final shipcheck. First hour was quiet, and we discussed the Mr. Noodle flavoring packet thief, who opened up the instant noodle packets but only took out the flavor packets. Second hour, we unlashed the deck in preparation for a good thorough deckwash. We caught a wahoo and a mahi, and then did a deckwash with soap, galley wakeups, and soogie. Then I went aloft with others to cut the mainsl robands and nip the sail and then we took down the mainsl in its gear so that it could be swapped with the foresl so that the foresl could be repaired. I was taken off of wake ups so that I could do this, since I'm an aloft-goer. Back on deck, I attached the clew, tack, and sheet shackles to each other and moused them with twine so the lines could go back in place without an actual sail. Then windexed all the glass I could on airports, windows, and skylights. Final shipcheck, then stood down. Had breakfast, and went below and passed out. Woke up, had lunch, sorted photos, wrote in my log, and read the ASTA Sail Tall Ships directory of ships some more. At 1600, I wirebrushed, cleaned up the scale chips, tacked down, and corrosealed part of the port breezeway bulwark that had been started on the previous watch. Then it was drizzling so I scraped some paint drops off the well deck. Put away the power tools totes, and then we had a discussion about sail handling tactics for different hypothetical wind scenarios. I was third helm, steering WxS 1/4S, then W 3/4S, then had dinner quickly before returning to helm again. The wind then shifted aft, and we changed course again, this time due W. After helm, took in all fore-and-aft sail except the outer jib. I plotted position and determined our course made good true (CMGT) and our log (speed over water) based on our charted positions, and our CMGT was 270 and our log was 6kts. We were then on standby on the quarterdeck, because the wind had been shifty, but it didn't shift again. After watch, I gave Nadja a copy of “Around Cape Horn,” and then we all did our workout on the well deck. Then bed. Shabbat Shalom.

Thursday 28 October 2010 [CORAL SEA]

Picton Castle at sea in the Coral Sea; Thursday 28 October 2010 בס"ד

All hands reported to the ship by 0800, and we were put into new sea watches. I now would be on the 4-8 watch again. Did domestics, and lashed and stowed the ship for sea. I was atop the galley house getting things in order and lashing them. Then I went into the hold to get the dolly so we could remove the old paint/chemical slops barrel, but by the time I got out it had been manually moved ashore, and so then I went back and relashed the dolly. Then I downrigged the awning. The ship was ready for sea, but official business was still going on, so all hands were on standby just waiting around. After a while, we re-rigged the awning because it was so hot. Also went around filling sea buckets and slooshing the decks with water because they were just too hot to walk on. Finally, we were ready to get underway at 1500. I was on the forward hawser bow line. We motored off the wharf, because of the current and tide, but we braced and then loosed all sail. Once clear of the wharf, we sailed away, bound for Bali, Indonesia. I was put on lookout at 1600 and reported several small watercraft and a group of exposed rocks. After lookout, we flaked out the hawsers atop the galley house to dry. Had a quick dinner, then went to helm at 1800 steering SW then SW xS, then SSW as we navigated away from land. During the final hour, not much was doing, and so I and other people who were on the 12-4 workout squad who were now on 4-8 began our workout routine on the quarterdeck. The Captain came out though, and told us not to work out on the quarterdeck because it was dark and he was going to trip over us. So quarterdeck workouts were hereby relocated to the well deck. I suppose it's different when we're doing it at 0200 and it's unlikely the Captain will come out and check the status of things unless things are hectic in which case we wouldn't be doing workouts. After watch, took a shower, then DTW.

Wednesday 27 October 2010

Picton Castle alongside at Luganville, Espiritu Santo, Vanuatu; Wednesday 27 October 2010 בס"ד

Woke up in bed and there were almost a dozen people crashed out on my floor, sleeping on cushions from the patio furniture from the gazebo. After they took off, discreetly returned the cushions, and checked out. I got my bill for “Mr. Fred,” which I thought was pretty funny. Went back to the ship on the water taxi at 0845. Once aboard, we weighed anchor with the 8-12s, which was a great workout since we had so much scope paid out. Then the Picton Castle moved to the commercial wharf, where we moored alongside. The 8-12s were stood down, and we took the watch. My first job was to sand the rescue boat, which could be done from shoreside since it hung in the davits over the wharf. After sanding it, painted it with some toplac white. WT taught me the scaffold hitch, which is pretty much the same knot as the alpine butterfly except done around the staging, when we rigged up the staging so Tiina could paint the anti-fouling stuff on the bottom once the tide rose so she wouldn't fall in the drink between the ship and the wharf. I put on some chinese fingers over the chafe gear on the mooring hawsers, and at 1130 Ollie officially departed the ship's company to return home to begin his new gig in a TV show called “The Killing,” so everybody who hadn't already done so said their farewells. My next job was to put some epoxy paint on a welded patch in the starboard well deck break, which became a bit of a fiasco. You can't mix epoxy in plastic, so I needed a metal can, but there were no metal cans. I searched the ship for a while, with no luck in finding a metal can. I had asked the galley team a few times if they had any, but no, they didn't. Seeing my frustration, Clark went to his bunk, and got a can of peanuts he had, opened it up, and started spreading them around, just so I could have a can. What a guy. So I got the can, and was about to mix the epoxy, when I was stopped and told that there is actually an epoxy paint. I was going to use regular epoxy, and “paint” it on, since I thought that epoxy painting was a technique, not a product. So then I got epoxy paint, and mixed its two parts 1:1, which is a different ratio than the regular epoxy. Anyway, the fiasco was over, and I painted the patch both on deck at the break and below in the hold on its other side. I then was sent into the skiff to give Tiina a quick hand, and on my way out I banged my knee right in the soft spot real hard on the deck box. Dammit, it hurt a lot, and that's a statement because I bang pretty much every part of my body into something pretty much every day. Right after, we had an up and stow, but I just couldn't go aloft because my knee hurt so bad still. While everybody else was aloft stowing, Tiffany (the waitress from the French restaurant) and her father and brother came by, and so I gave them a tour since I was good for little else at the moment. After the tour, during which they took countless photos of the ship, me, the ship and me, them and the ship, them and me, them and me and the ship, etc, the fuel truck arrived. I was put on fuel hose guard when the fuel line was run out to port side across the deck (the ship was starboard to shore) and made sure that nobody that had to get by got by without stopping and carefully stepping over the hose to avoid tripping. Human error causes the majority of fuel spills, and so my job might have seemed a bit ridiculous standing by a hose and stopping people over and over, it was necessary nonetheless. Plus I couldn't do much else with my knee banged up and throbbing. After that, it was dinner time, and then I was put on first watch at 1900. Nothing of note, then stowed my bunk for sea and went to bed.