Travel Reference
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from being around people and friends to being alone at sea again. After about a week of
steady silence, where there is a complete void of other peoples' vocal and mental interac-
tion, I started talking out aloud and answering myself, I suppose, just for companionship.
I would sometimes feel uncomfortable in the cloying silence. My mental state also under-
went a change away from the social distractions on land or around people. I found that I
could give one hundred percent mental focus on what I was doing, which is a great tool for
accomplishing things like reading, or learning guitar or another language, drawing pictures,
or even making jewelry as I did later on this lonely trip.
21
st
- 24
th
Sept: Average to good winds until yesterday. I had to turn on the engine and
motor sail towards Penrhyn. I could see the little island on the horizon, but it remained
tantalizingly out of reach. I hove to for the night and, with paraffin lamp squeaking and
swinging under the boom in the cockpit, I slept on a bunk cushion in the cockpit, a rare
treat for me.
I was able to lift up a false floor panel and the teak grate on the cockpit sole and lay it
on retainers in the open frame of the cockpit, thus making the seats and the new floor all
one plane. I could now comfortably sleep here with my bunk cushion and sheet from the
cabin. There was a slight breeze that played around us, which soon put Déjà vu and I to
sleep. There is nothing quite like falling asleep in balmy night trades with a soft cooling
breeze upon one's naked torso and a velvet sky full of twinkling stars and knowing there is
a new coral island awaiting your arrival and exploration in the morning. There were deli-
cious breaks in sailing!
I awoke at the break of day as naturally as I had fallen asleep. The light in the dawn sky was
a pinky red, and I could almost feel the red sun's imminent heat. A golden glow followed
soon after, and everything was tinged in this gorgeous filigree. I cut open one of the green
drinking coconuts I had been hoarding from Aitutaki and drank the contents of this cool,
sweet juice. The wind freshened to where I was able to haul up the sails, getting us out
of the hove to position, and, bit by bit, Déjà vu picked up momentum through the purple
wavelets. Soon we were sailing towards the spiky silhouette of Penrhyn.
The bow wave sloshed merrily on the hull, and there was a friendly wake of bubbles and
foam aft. The fishing line and my man overboard line had fouled up in the night and, after I
had set the steering vane, I fiddled around with this tangle. When I was able to throw both
free lines back out again, I decided to set up my staysail to see if I could get up some speed.
I sang out as I hauled this little sail up the mast, “Heave ho and up she rises, heave ho and
up she rises, heave ho and up she rises early in the morning!”
