Wayward Landlubber

   The seas rolled up as high as the spreaders on the mast, and I had to ease the bow over the lip of each approaching wave so as not to slam down into the trough some twenty feet below. It was like skiing big moguls, and there could be no mistakes. There was no star sight that night, or for the next two days. I was given a life harness made of web-strap with a stout caribiner, with which I would strap myself to a hook recessed into the floor of the cockpit. "Wherever you move topside, make sure you are secured", quoth Leon, and I did not disagree.    A large wave was picked up by the wind and slapped against Blanquita's stern, causing her to shudder and dumping hundreds of gallons of water, filling the well and drenching me. Had I not been strapped in I would have been washed overboard. The water drained out of the scuppers slowly, and the bilge-pumps came on automatically to clear the cabin bilge of any water that had gone through the companionway.    T...

We sailed NNE through the trade winds to pick up the southerly flow, which would carry us under the Golden Gate Bridge a few weeks hence. The sun rose each morning bright and clear; the days were warm and the sun set with a rosy glow each evening. The stars at night were numerous and large. Orion began his nightly journey by rising from his back in the East each night, hunting and drinking across the starry firmament and falling on his face in the west at dawn. The winds were slightly abaft the beam and sufficient to move us along on a beam reach at about 6 to 7 knots.    The daily routines were set and, except for the marine head which had again stopped working, there were few adjustments to be made. We took a four-hour watch at the helm, with the next four hours as lookout and fetcher of coffee for the helmsman. Our off time was spent mending clothes with Dacron sail thread (Saltwater dissolved the cotton thread), reading and sleeping. Our quarterberths, which were stacked ...

RED SKY AT NIGHT, SAILORS DELIGHT, RED SKY IN THE MORNING, SAILORS TAKE WARNING.    The Lister diesel throbbed to life and the crew of Blanquita made their final preparations to leave the terrestrial world behind and take up residence in the aqueous world for the next three to six weeks. The differences would be stark; a different rhythm, different sounds, and little to smell outside those the crew brought with them. Some of them knew that it would be a world of stifling closeness, but all were eager to join it.    The springline to the Spirit, which we had been rafted off to overnight, was shipped and coiled. Then the order "bowlines", followed by "sternlines". These were coiled and stowed in the lazaretto along with the fenders that had kept the two sailboats from scraping hulls. Blanquita pulled away from Spirit and the two crews shared noisy fairwells. Spirit, a classic 36 foot gaff-rigged wooden ketch, would meet a far different fate in the weeks to come. Bla...