Night Watch June 2007

A short passage of four days from Fiji to Vanuatu, my husband also known as The Captain, and I, the First Mate was prepared for this voyage and guiding us along the way was moderate winds at our back and rosy sunset to view. Sailing into the sunset is romantic, but sleeping while sailing into the sunset can be a completely different story. The reasons are simple, our sea berth has room only for one person and usually the boat is swaying back and forth along with the body, making sleep difficult. Tossing and turning to find the perfect wedged position and settling into a pretzel like yoga pose, a realization that limbs are falling asleep faster then myself, isn’t getting the desired results.

Sharing this single person sea berth with The Captain, he occupies the bunk while I keep watch. The first watch is easy to stay awake, scanning the horizon every 10 minutes, enjoying the stars or breathing the fresh air is invigorating. However, the second watch is always the hardest, since usually the first segment of sleep or what I like to think of as bed wrestling, isn’t sufficient to keep a person coherent during their next watch. Stumbling out of the bunk, focusing the eyes while trying to find clothes, any noise for the first few seconds are painful to the senses. Light is too blinding, even the stars and moon can offend yet I step out of the cabin, into the cockpit as the breeze caresses my face and my blurry vision begins to fade. Ever so slowly I scan the horizon, looking into the distance for a freighter ship or other signs of life, but realizing that the head’s pivoting motion has stopped and eyes are focusing on nothing, just gazing into space. The brain momentarily stopped functioning. Realizing that if I were capable of my night time duties, we would be safe, instead frightful thoughts of getting run over by some freighter ship where a sleepy eyed night watchman is not keeping a diligent and alert scan for harmless little sailboats. I shake my senses back to earth and take the necessary steps to keep awake.

My solution is to get caffeine. Moving slowly, but with purpose, the high octane stove is lit, water gets hot and a cup of tea is brewed with a healthy side of dark chocolate to complete the caffeine infusion. In my comatose state, I must remember to turn off gas flow igniter switch and turn gas knob to off position, a constant reminder of, ”Don’t blow up the boat!” from The Captain, when he finds one of the two not in the off position.

Happy, content but a little jittery, the first hour flies by. Crunching on my nut incased mocha bar, I watch my innocent, peaceful husband sleep with a wide gapping mouth and in my sleep deprived, hallucinogenic state of mind, I come to realize, that he always appears to be perfectly at rest during his slotted sleep time. While I watch his relaxed content face, jealousy and resentment begins to surface with fleeting moments of revengeful thoughts. Granted, this perfect sleep I am describing only occurs in the right conditions, where the wind and swell are situated to gently sway the boat, but at this moment in time, all rational thought has escaped my senses and The Captain needs to suffer! As I gulp the hot beverage, viewing his innocent serene face, I forgive his restful, slumber and decide to jot down a few ideas to keep me awake for the next two hours.

Things to do during night watch, other than watch

• Read – Only read something trashy or interesting, otherwise comatose sleep will set in.
• Eat- Stick to the basic food group of caffeine.
• Hunt- Don on a head lamp and do a surprise search for roaches. This activity keeps the brain sharp and with luck you won’t find any.
• Adjust Sails- Adjust sails like my husband, The Captain will do to get a better point of sail or pretend to adjust sails like me, the First Mate, by easing the jib sheet out and winching it aggressively back into position creating a loud tensioned rubbing sound, which may slightly arouse the sleeping beauty in his berth.
• Entertainment- Dangle things just a few inches from the captain’s face while he sleeps, like a piece of chocolate or the discovered cock roach and watch for results. Note: Advised only if married to the captain, since he may be less likely to dump you off at the first Port of Call if roach were to accidentally land in gapped mouth.
• End of Shift- Turn head lamp to brightest setting, pointing light at head of sleeping captain and awaken him for next shift 10 minutes prior to watch, because while he slowly comes out of his comatose sleep, not one second should be deprived of your slotted sleep time.