Pacific Odyssey - Leg 6

Today we celebrated Susan´s 19th birthday.  Arwen woke up at 0530 and
surprised her with a shower of boat-made confetti; she loved it and it
started her morning watch off well.  There was granola and yogourt for
breakfast, sandwiches for lunch, and calzones for supper, all Susan´s
choices; she´s had a good day.  Maddie and Chris helped make the calzones.
Yesterday we moved our clocks an hour forward; we change time every 15
degrees of longitude.  In a few days we will reach the date line where we
will get the chance to relive a day of our life.  It was a beautiful day;
the sky was blue and the air was cold.  The swell remaining after the storm
is still with us but Skipper said that within 24 hours it should become
less; the swells are already beginning to level out somewhat.  The swells
are big enough and the rocking severe enough that a few days ago Skipper and
I pulled out the berth control board that divides our bunk into two.  It is
the first time during this offshore we have used it.  Our sleeping space
becomes quite narrow (the Skippers bunk is equal to a twin size bed) but
that´s what one needs when the ship is really moving; we are both sleeping
better, wedged into our own personal spaces.  Most trainees and crew are
using their lee cloths to stay in their bunks.  Lee cloths are rectangular
shaped pieces of canvas secured under the inboard edge of the bunks and
stretched toward the deck head (the ´ceiling´ of below decks) with the help
of a lanyard hooked into an eye in the surrounding wood somewhere.  With the
lee cloth up, trainees and crew have another edge to lean into without
falling out of their bunks, depending on which tack we are on.  We have
light headwinds at the moment and the engine is moving us along.  Juniors
wrote their exams today and did well; they now become Intermediates and
lessons will begin all over again.  Jose taught several trainees how to make
a ´monkey´s fist´ today during his 1200-1600hr watch.  Work watch sanded and
oiled the cap rails and the foc´sle doors.  Katie taught Noah and Simon how
to play ´Sailors Crib.´  Several trainees felt like they had reached a
´plateau´ i.e. life at sea has become normal and routine has set in, and the
nights of not enough sleep are catching up to them.  This is quite normal,
there is so much that is new initially; after 2 weeks a different type of
trip sets in.  The benefits of working and living together in community for
a longer period of time now have a chance to take hold . . . this is what
our life together looks like for the next 2 weeks, we have a chance to grow
from it.  The days are passing quickly, in several days we will be halfway
through our passage and in another few days, we will be on the same side of
the date line as you.  Until tomorrow, good-night, Bonice.