I just spent a wet hour on deck taking pics and trying to clear my head of a nasty headache. It worked. For the 4 hours on deck it’s a constant drenching for the guys on watch. We are STILL reaching on port in between 16 and 22 knots of wind. But it’s not those knock you off your feet type waves that we saw the first two days out of Qingdao, rather more the slap you in the face when you’re not looking type.
Unfortunately, I’m not running one of the jackets with a latex neck seal. Instead I went for one of the jackets with a zip up the front so that I can get it on and off quickly. I’m starting to think I might’ve made a mistake because the water always seems to find a way in. Strange to be wearing full foul weather gear on deck when we are so close to the equator and the air and water temperature is I’m guessing around 28 degrees c. It’s the wind chill probably around 22 degrees c and the waves that are making all the gear necessary. Down below it’s a different story – hot, humid and very smelly – 6 days worth of wet foot traffic is starting to take its toll on the ambience. Wet socks and t-shirts hanging everywhere, (they’ll never dry) wet boots upside down on the side of the bunks that you have to climb over to get in. And a thin film of grime on everything, it’s a sad reality that we are only 6 days into this trip.
Jerry (Kirby) was on watch and it’s always a treat to hear him go on! He was in fine form today and I think that in one fifteen minute period there he took the banter from a discussion about whether or not to shake a reef out, to and extended history lesson on the Carriage Houses of New England and the relative merits of Red Cedar over Slate as a roofing material; then onto a self diagnosis of his ribs that he thinks might be broken and finally for this 15 minute window of time a great story about dirt biking on the Baja peninsula with a retired Line-backer who owns a bar in Tijuana…… simply amazing…. you would think it was all connected and I guess to Jerry it is!
Rick Deppe – MCM