A day in the life of a sailor....
0730 woken up with a sunrise and the clang in the kitchen and up above.
Gobble up a peanut butter and nutella sandwich maybe with granola. Maybe some
cereal.
0800 watch starts... usually with a sail change. The night shift heads down
for their breakfast and off to bed
Watch includes – helming (steering), looking out for other boats, tidying
up the ropes and gear. Perhaps even some fishing, sunbathing, and a lot of chit
chat
1100 start preparing the lunch of some sort of tortilla wrap with meat,
cheese, and veggie if any are left. Wake up the sleeping crew if they have not
already been up washing themselves with baby wipes, and brushing their
teeth.
1200 noon. The new crew comes up to the cockpit and settles in after
receiving a report of the course to steer, and any other particulars. The others
head down to clean up the lunch, do their personal chore as per the rotating
duty chart such as sweep the floor, clean the fridge, or check the bilges.
Perhaps it’s time for a nap, read a book, or write in a journal. You may also
find us at the back of the boat with a bucket of salt water, soap, and a puff
for a ‘shower’. Some days we’ve baked bread and even a batch or two of
brownies.
1600 the watch switches again. Another rest time for those coming off, and
more sailing for those coming on. Two groups of 5 crew switch back and forth.
Making of supper entails boiling a pot of water to heat up packages of premade
meals such as chicken tika, and lamb hot pot, serving over rice, pasta, or
mashed potatoes. This 1600 to 1800 shift is called a ‘dog watch’ and allows the
two teams to switch the shifts up every 24 hours.
1800 the new watch team comes up in some warmer weather gear and
lifejackets (mandatory for night sailing.) The other crew cleans up and tries to
get a little nap.
2000 we switch again. Often the evening brings another sail change that
requires most hands on deck, and some times takes a few minutes but when things
don’t go as planned, it may take 30 min to head down to bed. Time to get the
longest sleep you can, hopefully a full 3 hours!
2345 The crew is woken, and switched.
0345 The next crew is woken and switched. This I will say is the toughest
shift. This crew will spend 6-8 hours sailing in the dark. It’s stunning on
clear and star filled nights, but complicated and disorientating on cloudy, or
squall filled shifts.
0730 it starts all again!