2320: At 1825 Ivan came to the cabin and told me that dinner would be at 1900. I suspected another event and this time had the sense to take the cameras.
The Captain told us that there had been a storm at the entrance to the Channel, originating in Sole with hurricane force winds. But the storm has now moved south to Spain. And we are being chased by another storm.
One slight worry - he said that tomorrow he receives his orders for Europe. I asked him what this might mean - if prior experience is any guide they might be ordered to miss out Dover. But this doesn't seem to be a possibility. (I did suggest they might put into Falmouth for me but this didn't seem to cause much amusement.)
The Captain said they had seen many whales today. We should spend more time on deck tomorrow.
Resolution today: find a new way to travel. With Sue!
1630 LT:
Posn.: N44 39.4 W18 32.
Speed: 18.5Kn
Course: 063.
End 1854 2/11/04, 576NM.
I think this must be the last in the chain
This is not practical travel
In may ways ridiculous and expensive
And I don't want to do it alone
I think I must learn
To fly.
Now it is like travelling by bus
Running the hours down
No magic, no promise
Just the ability to fail me
Two days of this
I must find some kind of interest in it
I don't know how to turn off
I believe that is a crime
I have trained myself to sleep less
Want less
Need less
Require less degree of confidence
In order to break my life from moulds
So in boredom I must live out every minute
As if it was a worthwhile experience
Here's where the crows come home to roost
"How do they live such lives!"
I have asked smugly
Now I must discover.
The sun sets lower in the skies
You tangle in long shadows
The wind finds a piece of your coat to whip your face
A different kind of shelter is needed now
But where the sunlight was predictable
And harmed in straight lines
The wind is clever and sly
Running along the sides of superstructures
To ruin shelter
Creating vortices to sweep all corners
The skylight is hard, glassy, distant
Something to look at and not bathe in
The kindness has gone out of things
As well as the cruelty
This light is intellectual
It considers
And watches itself watching
The light of men who captured the world
And stole its treasures
To enrich this dark corner
To this day
Leaving all others to plead for equality.
2100: Clocks forward 1hr to GMT (now also obtaining in the UK).
1310: It has clouded over, quite high clouds, and there is a vicious wind from the east.
I have done my washing, getting ready to get off, but someone, and I suspect the Captain, has failed to remove his washing from the dryer. If there was a laundry basket I would put it in there but there is only a plastic bucket and that seems somehow disrespectful. It's probably also against maritime law.
It is very windy on the wheelhouse roof so I have come below. What now? I can't be arsed to do anything creative and I'm not going to start packing yet. That way madness lies.
0840: A rough night with about four and a half hours sleep. We have passed through the front and the weather is now bright and cold as predicted. There was for once a spectacular dawn with a large ship silhouetted against it on a course paralleling our own but heading south.
I bought a Hershey Bar last night. They are rightly described in America as 'chocolate candy' - like those 'chocolate flavour' sweets you used to get, like Tool Bars. It is totally American.