Casualties

Casualties

Getting on deck at first light I realized there was PJ. How could you blame the suffering feature? Conditions throughout the night had tough with winds to 28 knots and 8-10′ closely spaced and confused seas. When I last saw him at 0230 he was still hanging on to the lee rail of the pulpit for dear life despite the constant drenching.

I have entered him in the log as MIA – Presumed Fishing.

When I announced his absence to Salty, he looked contrite. Perhaps he felt that he had treated his shipmate unfairly or judged him harshly. It is trap that befalls us all at times and before I could offer any condolences, he fell fast asleep.

Conditions this morning are more of the same save for the swell. It is larger, more heaped up and a constant hinderance to both progress south and peace on board. Yet again we are sacrificing some precious eating.

As of Day 30, here’s the complete list of casualties on board:
1. 2 very fine Spaghetti Squash. They usually last forever but the two gave up the ghost within weeks.

2. 1 litre of 11% yogurt. I got about 2/3 of the way through this before it started to taste more like a very bad bottle of white wine.

3. 5 lbs of onions. These normally last as well but they were packed up against a bulkhead and mostly mashed as opposed to rotten.

4. Towed generator. Not quite dead yet but we won’t know until it calms down a bit.

5. 1 mainsail slide. It broke last night while I was putting in the second reef. I was sure I had spares aboard, but I do not. I shall have to scavenge from the lower part of the sail. Not so bad as the first reef is rarely out.

6. 1 large Monitor air blade. It blew off the boat sometime during the second night out.

All in all, not bad for 30 days work.

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