Preparing for twenty plus night watches that are broken between the three of us is always a big concern for long passages. You can handle a few nights or maybe even a week of constant sleep interruptions but three weeks or more?
Currently, I have the 3 am to 9 am as we have chosen a short-handed version of the watch schedule that includes two six hour stints one for me and one for Ben. Tiffany doing multiple watches, leading us in all culinary and cleaning projects. Over the last few nights (the early mornings) and sequentially an incredible sunrise (Amanecer!) I have been feeling a bit guilty having landed the best time slot.
Ben has the 9 pm to 3 am slot and for sure has plenty of stars that we both share as well as the bio illumination from the sea. Sometimes when I come on at three, we turn off the navigation lights as well as everything on board and watch the spectacle of lights shooting out from our wake.
Last night a piece of the bio essence splashed right up next to us sitting at the wheel and just continued to glow right there on the deck. In the water, it is like a million shards of glass in a blender with a black light making it pop in a brilliant display of some of nature’s finest artwork.
It is easy to get mesmerized at three, four, or five during the beginning of a new day by yourself with this the largest of all oceans playing at your senses. When 6 am rolls around you find new energy as the sky slowly reveals the promise of the coming day.
Everything changes so fast. All the sounds in the sails, the motion of the boat, the knocking is super highlighted in the dark. As the sky lights up in the dawn (Amanecer!) you are feeling back in total control. From the faint glow until the sharp edge of those first rays, life springs back and there is no place on earth that you rather be.
