Blogs

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Lois on the Qingdao Dragon Wagon!!!!!!

"The graveyard shift begins at midnight, its the one we all find most
difficult. Our life onboard revolves around being on watch and eating.
During the graveyard shift we have empty tummies which makes the four
hours a slow slog.Last night our graveyard shift was one of the most
beautiful night watches I have had so far.Woken gently at 11.40pm by
Baywatch we crept up on deck to a ceiling of stars, galaxies and
planets.The wind was present and from the south east but only 6-8 knots.
With our windseeker up we were managing a steady speed through the water
heading south in our desperate bid to exit the doldrums. The moon was
yet to rise and the stars littered the sky above us. To our stern we
could make out Cassiopeia, the brightly shining 'W'pointing towards the
Northern Cross. To our port stern was the ever present Orion. As time
passed and we headed further south, Orion moved over the sky until he
was baring down upon us. At sea you see more clearly the rotation of the
earth and the depth of the universe, a humbling insight. Some of the
stars are so low on the horizon that we have frequent mistaken sightings
of ships or yachts. Through the watch the moon continued to rise as a
bright bowl over the top of the squallish clouds. The stars continued to
rotate above our heads, and the wind began to build allowing us to
change up to our yankee one.Four am its the end of our watch, and time
we retire to our bunks to dream away the rest of the night. I write this
the next day and we are heeling nicely with our yankee two up, doing
nine knots towards our waypoint off the corner of Brazil. The winds have
filled and we have all our fingers crossed that we have finally met with
the South East trade winds which will take us across the equator to the
southern hemisphere and onwards to our destination in Brazil.

I have dreamt about sailing across the Atlantic for a few years now.
Sometimes I have to go and stand at the bow and take in what I am doing.
It is easy to stare at the computer screen, be fixated on numbers and
the latest sched. Sometimes you need a night under the stars or a blow
on the bow to stop for a moment and allow that sense of achievement to
sink into you and appreciate your opportunity to see the world this
way.I am in awe of the ocean and the stars and the ability to sail from
one ocean to another, from one continent to another and one hemisphere
to another."