Into the swing of things (part 4)

Saturday June 4th

I was on the 3am — 7am watch again last night, and again it was hard to stay awake by the end of it, but Chris our skipper had us steering by hand (rather than using the autopilot) which was a good way of encouraging us to stay awake!

The starry night sky was magnificent. There were plenty of shooting stars, plus I was using bright stars to steer by, and a few times I experienced a new for me phenomena — staring at one particular star for an extended period of time, all of a sudden a shift would happen and a spray of new stars would appear out of the blackness that surrounded the original one. This was no use for my steering as I frequently lost the one I was looking at, but it was quite delightful to have this odd refocussing fill in corners of the night sky with more stars.

Doing night watches got me wondering too, are there any benefits to gazing at the stars for prolonged periods of time? Whatever else, it certainly lends a sense of perspective to, well, everything really. Perhaps this is why old sailors frequently seem so calm and worldly wise.

We passed out of sight of land earlier in the day. We were motoring, rather than sailing, as there wasn’t much wind, and Chris wanted to keep us ahead of the high pressure system that was approaching NZ from the west — if we could do that the winds would make for great sailing all the way to Rapa. So, we were motoring for a while (we probably motored about 2 days out of the fourteen and a half that our journey took) and making good time.

Interestingly the watch cycle of 4 hours on and 8 hours off meant that I got to take two sleeps a day, which really appealed. I found myself hankering for a simple routine that would usher us along to Rapa, and around this time I had one — watch, sleep eat, watch, eat, sleep etc. With no real energy for anything else. (After a few days of acclimatisation to this routine, I caught up on my sleep and had more time to hang out and chat with the rest of the crew).

Late in the day, the wind changed and we were able to hoist our reacher sail (also called a screecher or a code zero) for the first time. It is a large sail designed for use in light winds and it was a lovely sight to see it puffed out fully and sailing us along smoothly.

Sunday June 5th

Each time of day being on watch brings it’s own particular delights. I did 7am to 11am this morning and was bathed in morning sunshine. Not much else to to report. Was still working at getting into the routine of being at sea — doing 4 hour shifts at all times of day or night is certainly requires adjusting to.

Monday June 6th

We’d well and truely made it to the leading edge of the high pressure system. It was amazing to watch the clouds swirl up to us from the south on one horizon, and then curl around behind us and back to the west on the other — it really gave the perspective of being a tiny point in the middle of a vast natural weather system (the centre of the high pressure system was more than a thousand kilometres away on the west side of New Zealand, and we were heading well off the east coast).

We’ve been studying the charts of the ocean ahead of us, and discussing a delightful quirks found on them. There a cluster of reefs and breaks aligned between us and Rapa, that have been put on the charts despite the fact that nobody has confirmed they really exist. For example:

• Earnest Legoubé Reef (ED, meaning existence doubtful)
• Jupiter Reef
• Wachusett Reef (ED 1899)
• Breakers (1879) — breaking waves reported in 1879 and neither confirmed or denied since

I love the idea that reports were taken seriously enough to get put on official charts, but not seriously enough to be actually believed in.

We have had albatross and other birds flying around us since yesterday. I saw an albatross take off from resting in the sea earlier, it just sat facing the wind and spread out it’s enormous wings, then started to run as it got some lift, no flapping needed, and then in seconds it was airborne and away, very impressive.

I found myself hoping today for stars on my watch tonight — last night I had three hours out of four staring at a dimly lit instrument panel as clouds blocked out the horizon and any light from the sky. I was not a happy camper.

I’ve been wondering too, about the allure of blue water sailing, as these ocean voyages are called. So far, I could’t say that the voyage by itself has been especially appealing or enjoyable, more of a grind really, a series of routine tasks to repeat until we arrive. Having a compelling destination, and time to spend enjoying it once you get there, seem a vital part of the overall experience.

At the end of the day we had a chat over dinner about whale strikes. From time to time a sailboat will crash into a whale way out at sea. The most likely explanation is that whales sleep fairly statically near the surface, and unluckily for all concerned, every now and then a sailboat will cross paths with one. But really, how remote must the odds be of something like that happening to us?

The voyage to Rapa Iti

• Part 1 — Introduction
• Part 2 — Auckland to Tauranga shakedown trip
• Part 3 — Leaving New Zealand
• Part 4 — Trying to get into the swing of things
• Part 5 — Action stations!
• Part 6 — Now we’re sailing
• Part 7 — A very happy birthday
• Part 8 — Action stations again!
• Part 9 — Whales
• Part 10 — A day with a bit of everything in it
• Part 11 — The sky is on fire
• Part 12 — Almost there
• Part 13 — Land ho!