Day 75: Galapagos to Hiva Oa, Marquesas – 21/02/10

I notice on my watch (and have noted this over the past couple of weeks or so) that there is very little phosphorescence in the water at night which could be the reason why we haven’t seen any whales for ages.  Also the absence of little squid is strange (but pleasing as I don’t like having to prise their squishy dead bodies off the deck).  Talking to other boats over the last few days, nobody has managed to catch any fish.  Like with us, they get on the lines but are too big to bring in.

It is a lovely night, a light cool (ish) breeze, and we trundle along at a gentle 5 knots.  The sea is calm and both Mike and I get a good amount of sleep between our respective watches.  Maybe watching ‘Dead Calm’ was not the best of ideas, but I keep a sharp lookout for large, sinking schooners and hitch hikers in dinghies but see neither.

I manage to sleep after my watch, and in fact don’t wake up until gone 9 am so it feels that I am finally catching up with my sleep.  Thank goodness.

Today there is absolutely nothing to see except sea, sky and a few fluffy clouds.  There are no other boats or wildlife of any kind.  I do the death patrol but nothing new has been flung onto the boat although I do at last manage to prise the last of the squid off the bimini – it is now cooked to a cinder, dark brown and solid as a rock.

Both Mike and I manage an afternoon nap, but, as we are both good boat watch people, not at the same time.  I have one of my pretty regular panics about what we are going to do at the end of the rally.  Mike is very good about these, dealing with my tearful episode with his usual calm and comforting manner.  It just feels so insecure, not having a future mapped out the way it always used to be.  I know that for some people (Mike included) that is a wonderful and liberating feeling, but to me it is just too much space to flounder around in, I still need my life boundaries and miss the comfort of familiarity and loved ones.  It’s difficult to explain, and might even be a case of the ‘grass being greener on the other side’.

Photo:  Mike brings in the line – still no fish

Sitting with a cup of tea in the early evening and watching the sun go down, it’s difficult to imagine why I still yearn for parts of my old life, but I do.  But, like every other time I’ve felt like this, I get over it and sit back to watch the moon rise and the stars appear one by one and again, all is right with the world – until next time.

Photo:  I get tea and sympathy, Mike gets tea and a sunset

 

Our position is:  09 deg 09 min S, 129 deg 24 min W

Distance so far:  5030 nautical miles