15/07/2020
At 7:30 this morning, we left Great Keppel Island and continued heading north. Wind was good at first, blowing from the southwest, and the boat sailed at a speed of about four knots. At noon J was washing the bucket at the stern. The edge of the bucket broke and fell into the water. He had to turn the boat to rescue it. We circled around the bucket twice and finally picked it up. Good thing was we practiced how to rescue a person overboard. But after returning to the course, wind dropped. The boat went slower and slower. Put on spinnaker at port side, at first it was a little bit better, but then it collapsed from time to time, like a dried mandarin peel. We tried it on starboard side, and not making much difference. Our Original plan was to go to Pearl Bay, but it seemed that we had to shorten the course and anchor nearby.
After bypassing a small island, we entered a small bay before five o’clock and dropped anchor in front of a little beach for a rest. We only sailed less than 30 nautical miles in eight hours, not much faster than a sea snail, but it was always pleasant sailing in the blue sea and under the blue sky.
For dinner, we had spaghetti with veggie protein and Salami as mince. Now I am very good at boiling spaghetti without wasting any water. The secret is that you don’t need to add too much water to the pot, just cover the noodles, sprinkle salt(or a bit sea water), bring to boil and add spaghetti (I use the thinnest type it is called vermicelli), boil for a minute or two, remove from stove with the lid on, and start making sauce. When the sauce is cooked, the spaghetti have absorbed almost all the water and the texture is just right. Add them into the sauce and serve. It saves water and gas this way, which is suitable for life at sea with limited resources.
You still want to write a journal even in food coma(too full from dinner). I read Robin Knox-Johnston (the first person who sailed around the world non-stop) before. He said that writing a journal every day had became the mainstay of his existence in such a long lonely voyage. He’d usually down tools at 5pm for a beer and write. It become a comforting routine, a ritual. Writing each day helped him stay sane, even when water is pouring in through the skylights, he just had to do it, if only the barest of description. But there are too many amazing scenes on the sea that are indescribable. He said he wish he could paint.
Since I started this boat life, I formed a habit of writing journals. It may be that there are too many interesting things happening every day compared to the past that I need to express and want to share with my relatives and friends. I found it quite interesting reading my old journals too. I don’t know how many people still keep this habit. This traditional procedural recording method may have been replaced by photos, videos or a few words on social medias. They seem to be abundant but they are only fragmented, and they are not as complete as composing a longer article to explain the context. Of course, there might still be many people writing diaries but they don’t share like what I did. After all, the intention of writing diaries is not to expose.
Sea Journal 