I look like a battered wife. All this rocking and rolling has led to numerous close encounters with tables, cupboards, seats, doors, bars and more. My thighs, hip and upper arms are covered in bruises. It reminds me of when Steve and I use to do karate. We use to practice on each other and unsurprisingly I would end up black and blue. Nowadays we fight verbally but I still blame him for my bruises. It was his idea to go sailing!
Day eight is another mile stone for me. Its the longest time I’ve been out at sea. This trip so far has been mentally and physically more challenging than any other. The eight day crossing from Costa Rica to the Galapagos was more like a childs ride at a funfair. The ocean was so flat and the wind so weak that we glided sedately over the water. This trip is more like a roller coaster ride. Lots of wind, swells, thrills, anxiety and exhilaration. Oh yes, and bruises.
Steve made us practice hand steering with only the compass today. He decided that if we lost power and all our instruments stopped working, we should still know how to steer to course. Well I’ve never really steered with a compass before. Previously I always had land marks to know which direction to point to. Out here in the middle of the ocean east,west, north and south looks the same. Anyway I found it much harder than I expected. The way the compass turns is not intuitive. If I want to head west, I have to turn the wheel towards the way east is showing on the compass. This completely does my head in. Its like steering with a tiller, you point away from the direction you want to turn. I’ve been known to go round and round in the dingy until I’ve worked out which way I have to point the tiller. Somehow Steve feels I need a lot more practice with my compass steering skill.
We saw a very large pod of dolphins. They didn’t come to visit and play with us. They were hunting. We saw a number of large fish jumping out of the water and spinning in the air like they were panicking and trying to escape. It was interesting to see the dolphins speed through the water. Many of them seem to form groups of three. Whether this is significant I don’t know. Another item on my list to look up when we get connected to the internet.
No fish today. Not even one that got away.
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