We have a tradition that, on the first full day of a passage, we have a day off from school. This is mainly a grace period for me to get used to the motion of the boat, finish organizing watch schedules and meal plans, etc. but the kids never seem to complain or ask to start school early.
Sometimes I’m busier on non-school days than I am on school days because there are all kinds of other activities that still require my assistance. I tried to let the girls paint on their own and it went fine – there were just a few more spots of paint to clean up then when they are more closely supervised.
I thought Cobin and I could work through some of the magnet or radio experiments I had prepared for many months ago. Unfortunately, he was more interested in building a hydrogen bomb. I had dragged my heels on getting him the needed supplies for this project because it sounded like a bad idea. I was further convinced of this when I asked for one of the materials at a hardware store in South Africa and they told me it was a restricted item and they were out of stock. “Just as well,” I thought. “That way Cobin won’t blow up the boat.”
When I finally got around to reading the details of the project (yesterday), I realized that “bomb” was a misnomer. It does use hydrogen but it’s really a high-powered water gun, not a bomb. Joe helped Cobin find an alternative way of building it and we all (mostly me) learned something about cathodes and anodes and ions. In the photo below, you can see the carbon rods that Joe helped Cobin extract from some carbon-zinc AA batteries. These are hooked to a 9-volt battery which is used to perform electrolysis and split off some of the hydrogen atoms from the water molecules. You can see the freed gases bubbling around one of the carbon rods. The folks at Scitoys, who dreamed up this project, provided a good explanation of what is supposed to happen – I will leave it to you to Google if you are interested.
Unfortunately, despite a number of attempts, the hydrogen bomb still isn’t working. I find it very entertaining to sit here on a boat, which is extremely vulnerable to fire and explosions, and reread that sentence, knowing that I’m sincere in my disappointment. We all watched numerous times as Joe clicked the igniter attached to the bomb but nothing happened. So, it’s sitting in the cockpit, waiting for someone to have the energy for the tedious trouble shooting required to get it going. Maybe on the next break from school.
In the meantime, we did another kind of shooting. The girls and I were taking down the laundry (don’t worry – Joe and Cobin do it too) when I noticed two tuna-like fish swimming next to the boat. This is not normal. If we see anything swimming next to us, it is usually dolphins or flying fish. They were within a foot or two of the boat and right at the surface. Everyone came out and we watched as they paced the boat, leaping out of the water and gobbling up the tiny flying fish that Charm was startling as she passed. Cobin immediately thought of using the bow we have on board, courtesy of our neighbor and avid bow hunter, Phil Treglia.
It took Cobin a while to get the bow out of storage but the fish courteously waited for him to de-rust the hinges on the bow case, detangle the line, set up the bow, and take aim. They continued to wait, all the while dodging around to get fish snacks, while Cobin and I worked through some issues with the line attached to the arrow that kept getting tangled on the bow. Finally, he was ready to hunt them in earnest while Joe let out a fishing line so we could attack on all fronts.
Those fish must have either been very hungry or very lonely because they hung out for the next 30 minutes and let both Joe and Cobin have multiple turns shooting at them (Gemma and I opted for starting lunch preparations just in case the hunting didn’t go well). All of us were active in fish spotting as the duo would disappear for a few minutes at a time, then gradually fade back to us and resume their places in the shooting range off the starboard bow. A couple of the shots went near enough that we could see the fish dodging the arrow so then we started wondering if they were just playing with us. We quickly became attached to them so none of us was really disappointed when all of the arrows missed their marks.
During the rare moments when we aren’t shooting things or making explosives, Gemma and I have been doing more peaceful activities like crossword puzzles or Bananagrams. Joe also joins in but mainly engages in his old stand-by, solitaire.
We did have a bit of a fright the other day when Joe said he smelled something burning near the chart table. I could smell it too but it smelled to me like a car overheating. After checking all the obvious locations and finding none of them on fire, Joe went to take a nap. When he got up, Gemma was around and she started sniffing for the source. She identified the radish plants as a possibility but they were covered and too far away. Undeterred, she said, “It smells more like something has gone off (British for ‘spoiled’).” Joe went out on deck and, as Gemma sniffed closer and closer to the open hatch window, she said, “I think it might be a fishy smell.” Just at that moment, Joe waved a dead flying fish at her through the hatch and the burning issue was solved.
Charm won’t be setting any speed records on this crossing. We have had between 7 and 15 knots of wind since we left St. Helena, just enough to keep us sailing at 4 – 7 knots. We don’t have the fuel or the desire to motor-sail so we are going as fast as the wind blows us. Mini-spinny (our little spinnaker) has been the only sail we’ve had up and it has made sailing very pleasant. There’s very little to do and all systems are (I’m knocking on wood) currently operational. At other, faster, less pleasant times during our trip, I’ve told myself that I would happily give up a bit of speed to have pleasant conditions. It looks like my deal has come through. I’m OK spending two extra days out on the sea if the two days have the same winds and seas that we have now.
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