During the morning watch the sea was calm with a low mist hanging over it. Lara saw dolphins jumping earlier in the night, right by the boat, an amazing sight, made surreal by the sparkling bio luminescence around them. In the morning the sea was tranquil like a glacial lake and in the distance, dolphins emerged from the water almost in slow motion gliding back again. We saw a baby dolphin in the pod.
Later on in the day, we came across a patch in the ocean with tree trunks and limbs, coconuts and trash – like rubber footwear, plastic bottles, cookie packages. The boat hit one of the smaller branches and we had to evade a few larger logs to avoid damaging the boat. Spotted a turtle among all that. Note to self – research the migratory path of turtles. Have seen so many up close while diving in Cozumel and Playa del Carmen in Mexico and islands of the Caribbean – but never this far in open ocean.
Lara is a very disciplined person – must stem from her time as an army officer. Apart from schooling and taking care of 3 kids on board, doing watches like the rest of us and helping with trimming the sails, she also exercises regularly onboard. This evening, Swagata, Ruth and I joined in. Even Cobin got caught up in the group spirit and decided to go along. Lara setup a circuit on the fore deck with 5 different stations with assisted pull-ups, mountain climber, push press with hand weights, and sit-ups. We did the circuit 4 times with a minute at each station. Everybody was dripping sweat by then. It felt good to have done the exercises.
While the boat has a shower stall, it is more fun to shower on the deck with a hose. Some prefer to take a dip in the ocean, while the boat is stopped and drifting, and hold on to the rear ladder to cool down. A few jelly fish stings can be part of the experience. I have yet to bathe in open ocean choosing the safety of the deck for now.
Dinner was Saucy Pasta prepared by Ruth. Lara started her 3-hour watch while the rest of us ambled to bed to get some rest before our watch rotation came up in the night. We each have a two-hour watch rotation throughout the day and night where we maintain course, watch out for other boats, and objects in the water, trim sails as the wind changes, and watch for squalls or other weather changes. Since we are rookie sailors, Joe sleeps with one eye open on our watch.
Sailing Jajabor 