Underway Tues Nov 18,08

Saturday, November 22nd, 2008

I had a watch from 1:30 to 2:45 lastnight which was great because it allowed me to sleep for a few hours
before getting up.

After breakfast we did sail handling drills and I went aloft to both loose and furl the upper and lower
topsails on the foremast.

Then we got ready and steamed out of Mallorca harbour and out to Sea.

After drills for mn overboard, fire and abandon ship the watches stood down and we are chugging steadily

Westward.

Hopfully we will get to set sail soon.

We did set sail just before I cme on watch at four.

I had an interesting first watch at sea.

Just after we came on watcg a squall came in from the North and we had to brace the yards around to
handle the wind shift after the squall line passed I went aloft onto the Fore Yard with Nicky to release the
Foresail so it could be set just as it began to rain.

After we set the foresail I began to feel really queasy, ginger, saltns and lots of water kept  things under control but eventually I had to use one of my seasickness patches.

My turn came to be the hemsman at 6:00pm just as it was getting dark.

Steering is an interesting process.  We steer by the compass so the mate gives me the course and I have to
keep this little orange line (the lubbers line) aligned with the compass point that represents the course.

The steering is odd to me. The ship responds to the helm fairly slowly so it is easy to over steer.  John
recommended I put one full turn of the wheel on at a time and then wait to see how the ship responds,
then when she begin to turn take the turn off.  This work really well.

After I finished my hour on the helm I went to do a ship check with Nicky.  This entails going into every
compartment and looking for leaks, overflows, fires or anything coming loose.

Once our watch wa relieved “I hit the rack” queasy stomach and all.

KJ

Posted in On Watch | No Comments »