Back on watch

I'm back on watch and have managed to avoid writing a blog to myself for just under an hour before giving in. It's not that being on watch at the ungodly hours of the morning is boring, it's not. It gives you a wonderfull remote feeling it's hard to find in modern day life. But motoring along in no wind with an auto pilot and Automatic Identification System (AIS) and not a lot of boats about, means that scanning the horizon for big ship trying to run us down takes a few seconds. So before all these gadgets came along there was something to watch out for, now I just look at the Garmin plotter and I know the name of the ship, what type of boat it is, it's course and speed, how close it will come etc. It stops short of telling me the skipper's name and his favourite colour, but it means the things that used to absorb my time on night watch, now don't.

This is no bad thing as it makes the yachtsmen who sail though the night, and through shipping lanes, safer. But it does mean I'm at a loss for things to do right now. Once I install the Digital Yacht iAIS, I'll be able to have this information on my iPhone, on the toilet for example. I'm not on the toilet now, just incase you were wondering! But even in the part of a boat, where the crew can call their own, they will still know the shipping around them. Which is why, dear reader, I have time on my hands to write a blog entry at 0319, oh bum, forgot to write the log, back in a sec....I'm back, one job an hour and I forget to do that because I writing to you. Nevermind the plotter has every thing under control. While I was below I plotted our position on the chart and we've done just under 4 miles in the last hour. Tide is against us, which is unavoidable if you go to sea for more than 8 hours.

Anyway back to being on watch. Years ago I used to think about my perfect boat while on watch, everyone thinks about something different when they have a few hours alone with only a boat and nature for company. I used to think about the perfect boat because the topic was endless. On one night I might think about a shallow draft boat to go exploring creek and rivers, other nights it might be a blue water cruiser to set off around the world, or just where the wind would take us. I couldn't afford any of these boats of course, but it didn't stop me thinking them through in every minute detail to whisk the night away. But now we have Pixie, and it feels unfaithful to think about another boat when we're alone together, so I had to find something else that's quiet to do, but what? When there is no wind, no sails to trim, no ships to look out for, no position to work out, what's left for the person on watch to do?

Blog of course! My two hours out here alone are almost over, and they have flown by. Please excuse me while I enjoy them on my own, good night (or morning as the case might be)