Ease The MainWith Benevento and its crew

When telling friends about our trip, we often were asked, “What happens at night?  Do you anchor wherever you are?”  The answer is, unfortunately, no.  We can’t anchor if the ocean floor is too deep and we are on a long passage.  Someone always needs to be on watch.  Truth be told, night watch is not my favorite part of sailing because, well, it’s hard to stay awake.  And at this point, it’s still pretty cold at night, which makes it even more unappealing.  Moreover, night watch anywhere near shipping lanes can be very stressful.  If the weather is rough, it is much scarier at night. If you’re not freezing to death or stressing out, then boredom can set in, which leads to sleepiness.

I once read a sailing blog post of a woman who said she had begun to really like night watch.  To her credit, there are some points during night watch that can be really magical.  Watching a full moon set a glistening path across the ocean.  Watching Orion rotate above you as the hours pass and contemplating the earth’s rotation.  Looking up at the unfathomable number of stars above you.  Seeing the bioluminescence splash away from the hull as the boat carves through the swells.

The most recent night watch (2 in a row) from Ensenada to Turtle Bay there was very little boat traffic – one of the perks of being more offshore.  It was partly cloudy but with a nearly full moon, which would burst through the clouds once in a while, shining a spotlight on the boat.   So far, the longest passage we’ve had is two nights in a row, the rest have been overnighters.  I think (I should say I hope) that during longer runs we’ll get into more of a rhythm where night watches aren’t a test of endurance.  I’ll let you all know what happens.

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