News
1000 Nautical Miles
Ship’s Log
Noon Position
36° 26.4’N 059° 00.3’W
Ship Heading
040° PSC
Ship Speed
5.30 knots
Taffrail Log
1017 nm
Weather / Wind / Sail Plan
Sailing under the 4 lowers with a deep reefed mains’l. Wind NW F3, seas NWxW F4, skies 3/8ths Cu, Barometer 1020.6 MB.
Description of location
North Sargasso Sea
We woke up to calm seas and 24 degrees Celsius weather, which is my favorite temperature. After being hove to among the 20-something-foot high big angry mountains throwing us into walls inside the Cramer, and splashing us on deck, we are back to pleasant conditions. Out of the blue, we received anonymous nice notes clipped to the curtains of our bunks this morning, which I would like to communicate to whoever wrote them made for a wonderful start of the day. Not only is this weather good news for us, but also great news for science – we are back to deploying our gear and Pete the UNICORN dipped his feet into the water today, too.
Taylor and Zuza looking at a Sargassum sample from the dip net.
At 1000 nautical miles into this insane adventure, we have entered the shadow phase, which for one is related to our watch responsibilities, but for two is a nice way to foreshadow the upcoming celebration of Halloween. As of right now, it means we are taking on more responsibility and starting to look at the bigger picture. For example, knowing when we should be sailing away from a weather system and keeping in mind that we do need to get to St. Croix at some point. We have been learning lots about life at sea and I feel like I gain new skills every single day, which gets me out of bed, even on days when I feel tired.
We are now in the Sargasso Sea. On our port side, there are windrows of Sargassum that we are dip netting to get samples for my oceanography project about fauna on rafting communities. On our starboard side, we have just had an orange-pink sunset featuring a seagull. Perhaps more importantly, all around us there is a land-less horizon and a magnificent ocean blue that I cannot get enough of.
These gale-filled days with bucket hats full of rain had me thinking about grass and the smell of leaves. Our redefined experience of fall onboard will certainly make for an unforgettable memory. Take a minute to appreciate your landmarks today; the things that smell like sunlight, the sound of cars passing by on the street or the buzzing of a fly. We will be letting the perfect night skies, untouched by the light pollution, sink in this upcoming dawn watch.
Signing off,
Zuza Witek, C Watch
P.S. Kroks, nie martw sie, jedzenie jest bardzo dobre. Stary, pamietam co jest najwazniejsze – nie wiem czy bede potrafila zapomniec o biologii morskiej i oceanografii po tej wycieczce. Wszystko jest bardzo ciekawe. Mam nadzieje, ze sezon grzybowy udany. Pozdrawiam wszystkich! Spodziewajcie sie mnie tutaj jeszcze raz za parenascie dni.