The wake up call went through the ship early on Thursday morning, and after manuevering around my neighbors in Sleepy Hollow, I made it out on deck. I was greated by an incredible sight. The sky over the Bay was clear and blue, and the sun was lighting up every thing it touched in that special early morning way. Turning around to see Sausalito, I was startled to discover a huge heavy fog bank covering most of it, and after further inspection, most of the edges of the bay were the same.
Once everyone was up and had eaten breakfast, the Captain got us under way. Once the anchor was raised, we headed towards the Golden Gate Bridge, which was under part of the fog bank. As we got closer to it, most of it became visible, except for the very tips of the top of the bridge. Pamela, the first mate, was in the middle of giving some of us a run down on the lines and pin rails, but I kept wanting to look at the bridge and take pictures. She realized that some of us had never seen the Gate from this vantage and kindly let us enjoy the experience. I got some beautiful pictures, as well as a video of the passage under the Gate.
As we left the Gate behind, we started to encounter the sea swell that mixed with the bay waters. At this point everything was overcast. I kept mostly to the prow, and even though I was not on watch, I kept the lookout company. I was really enjoying the way the prow kept dipping down and rising up high in the waves. And I was stupidly happy that I didn't feel seasick at all. Well. Let me tell you. That didn't last very long. As soon as I moved aft, I began to feel the effects. I don't really remember much of the rest of the day. I do remember sitting on the dog house roof, staring at the horizon and wishing that the people around me would pipe down so that I could enjoy my misery in silence. Poor Rita, one of my watchmates, she was sick for a long time. Our wonderful steward brought up a large tray of nachos, and I couldn't for the life of me understand why anyone would want to eat anything. I decided to try a piece, and miracle of miracles, I felt better! Salt! It is a wonderful thing. I snacked for a while, and felt a little better, enough so that I could venture below. There I was told that the best way to get over the motion of the ship was to sleep it off. Apparently when you are laying down, your body has an easier time of adjusting. So, off to bed I went. It was very difficult getting into that bunk with the ship rolling about, and my seasickness was back in full force. But I managed.
Somebody decided it was time to wake me, sometime in the early afternoon, for the afternoon meeting and class. Despite my groggy protests, my presence was required, so I stumbled up to the deck. The meeting went fairly quickly, but I was glad in the long run that I had made it on deck because we had reached the Farallon Islands. These Islands are famous for being the largest seabird colony in the United States, outside of Hawaii and Alaska. There is also a large population of seals here, contributing to one of the largest North American populations of Great White sharks. We didn't see any, but we did see a lot of birds, including the Sooty Sheerwater, a bird whose migration route takes it 24,000 miles a year.
After the excitement was over, we were being tossed about by some nice little waves, and I followed the Steward's advice and slept some more. I got in about 3 hours or so before it was our watch's turn to take the deck. The sleep did wonders for me, and I woke in time for the evening meal, which was hot and salty. Just what I needed. I felt great. We came on watch at 7pm, and stayed on watch until 11pm. My first post was forward lookout, which suited me just fine. I thoroughly enjoyed the ship's movements there, dipping down into the huge troughs and rising up high on the peak of the swells. I saw the sunset, and as the weather had cleared a bit, I got to watch the first stars come out. By the time it was totally dark out and I was enjoying finding the constellations, I was called back to the quarterdeck (QD) for boat check. I managed the lower deck, but once we got to the engine room, I started to get really queasy again, so I returned to the deck to do the deck check. I was then assigned to take the wheel.
Let me tell you, there is no feeling in the world like steering a sailing ship in high seas. Or any seas for that matter. I will never forget it. I was given a course to steer by, and while keeping a constant eye on the binacle (the deck compass), I did my best to keep within 5 degrees on either side of the course ordered. It was fun. The huge swells would pick up the ship and then dump her down, and she's veer off course till the swell would let go. Then she would meander back to her original line. Later in the trip, when we had calmer seas, it was easier to keep her on course, but I still thought the swells were fun. I did discover that handling the wheel tended to make my arms sore in strange places. I was still at the helm when our watch was relieved, so I was able to relinquish my control of the ship to B watch. After a short watch meeting, we all clambered down to our bunks and blissfull sleep. Our next watch was after breakfast at 7 the next morning. We would be on watch till 1 in the afternoon.
Ta!
