Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
The wind increased during the course of the day, and I eventually took in the main and ran
under poled jib alone. Rough weather sometimes had its advantages, in this case, dolphins.
For some reason, we would virtually always get a school of them hobby horsing over to
play, in a blow. This was a large school; there must have been easily over a hundred, all
darting and flying about with the greatest smiles on their cute faces. We loved a visit from
them. The world can't be half that bad when there are dolphins about. They were to save
our boat and possibly our lives in the near future.
That night there was a lot of phosphorescence in the water, amazing colonies of micro or-
ganisms cohabiting and, like electric eels, turning a beautiful, bright light of green on when
disturbed. Somehow these organisms communicate with each other in milliseconds and are
able to produce this light. It is quite fascinating to watch the wake of a dolphin or a seal
underwater speeding along in front of shapely trails they leave behind through this phos-
phorescence.
I eventually figured out that a phosphorescence sighting at night foretold calm the next day,
and sure enough, even before the sun rose, we were slatting about on an irritating sea. There
is not much one can do about this abatement of wind other than motor or grin and bear it.
We had little choice but to bear it. There was very little grinning.
These calm conditions could go on for days, in which case it was best to try and motor
through the usual high pressure system. The seas would calm down along with an extended,
calm patch, and the ocean took on a whole different personality. It was a time to relax, look
about, and take in the beauty of the area. It is quite odd, but one would think that a calm
anywhere in the world at sea would be identical assuming climatic conditions were similar.
But this is not the case. Both Gavin and I could feel the vast difference of a geographic
place, one from the other. So, in a calm, we would “explore” the new place. In most cases it
would involve fishing. Or bird spotting. We would see turtles swimming along peacefully,
something you wouldn't see if you were crashing along under sail. At times a whale would
be spotted or even the alarming sight of a giant manta ray hurtling up through the water to
remove barnacles.
Gavin and I used to play games when we got bored. Usually it was “I Spy” with no limits,
and sometimes it would take the whole day to guess an answer. For some reason, we never
thought of playing cards or drinking at sea. Alcohol was very limited, and usually we had
one glass of wine in the cockpit when the sun was setting, and it was reasonable weather. It
was a time to look forward to and usually ended the day well.
Whoever was on watch then would be relieved of his galley duties, and after our sundowner
one of us would slip into the galley and cook something hot. It was morally uplifting and
vital to have at least one hot meal a day. A good recommendation to anyone facing a storm:
