Time on the ocean is well spent. Passages give one time, lots and lots of time, to ponder life’s deepest questions. “Why are we here? “What is the purpose of life?” “Why do dolphins show up after you turn on the music?” “Wow there’s a lot of trash in the ocean, why do fish always congregate under the larger pieces?”
Truly important issues. After a time a rhythm develops. Watch schedules have different crew members interacting at different times; but still its cyclical nature cannot be denied. Every hour we record the same information: Time/Date, Position, heading, speed, etc. We also record any significant items: sails up/down, reefed, lights seen, ships and their relative heading, if the bilge is dry or if we have water to the spreaders
During my last passage, from the Abacos to Fendandina Beach, Florida another pattern emerged. Leaving out the Whale Cay passage, we motored at 7ish knots until we got passed the “chub rocks”. The wind was a solid 11 knots on the beam, so out came the sails, as we turned Northwest to Charleston. The motor silenced, we settled into the quiet, relaxed motion that all sailors live for. The sails drew the boat along at about 5.5 knots, not bad in the 10/11 knots of wind we had. After a couple of hours we had a dramatic change in wind. It disappeared.
The motor came on. It droned for hours and hours and hours and hours… No wind. And it was hot. Night came and morning followed. Gorgeous sunrises happen at sea. Its beautiful to behold and one can not help but sense the warm feelings of hope that well up at its sight. Or the warm feeling of the heat baking your skin. On with the sunscreen.
But on a motoring boat, on a windless, day, there are not many places to escape the sun on a sailboat. You can’t go below, as the engine noise and heat will drive you out the cabin, unless you are looking for a sauna type experience but with exhaust fumes and diesel. Its not quite the experience of hot stone massage, but who knows, it may have value to some. This leave the only and most obvious option, under the Bimini.
Under the bimini there is limited space. In the morning, the entire crew would cram themselves on one side of the cockpit. Then much like a human based sundial, they would slowly clock around the cockpit to maximize access to shade, as the day progressed. It was then that Zach called out, “So this is cruising, chasing shade around the boat.” Yes it is.