August 4, 2010 The Moon and Clouds

last night was the 3rd night in a row that we were able to see an incredible show of the stars.

The number of stars, and the clarity of the Milky way is fantastic. However the night does not stay this way all night. The clouds from squalls, and the Moon conspire to play games.

The clouds cover the moon, and under the darkness, the waves will then attack and board the boat to wreak whatever havoc they can. They will splash the helmsman, or sometimes send a frontal attack of a whole wave up over bow to come washing down the deck and into the cockpit. And for the comprehensive maneuvers, they will add in some special OPS flying fish, or squid.

Now this all sounds like the moon is the good guys and the clouds are the bad guys, but I am not so sure of the character of the moon. Cause, when the moon does come out and show his face, about half of the stars run and hide. So there must be something not so nice about the moon...


AND NOW FOR SOMETHING COMPLETELY DIFFERENT:

This morning we finally reached the high, or as much of it as we wanted. The whole demeanor of the boat is different now. There are no waves. The wind is light, and it hasn't rained since last night. We pulled all the cushions out to the cabin top to give them a chance to dry out. Clothes were hung out all over the boat. We turned on the motor for a couple hours, but later found that we could still sail. We turned on the stove for the first time since we left Hawaii. Dave made pasta with some marinara sauce we found, and added a can of salmon. Oh yeah, while we were motoring we setup the autopilot. That freed up a lot of time as someone did not have to be at the tiller at all times. Dave came down to listen to the daily radio check in, and I pointed out approximate locations of the boats as they reported location and wind speed.

After dinner, we tacked onto port tack and are headed for SF (well maybe a little low, but I expect to get lifted as we head East.


FISHING NET FLOATS:
I have been looking for the glass balls that are used to float fishing nets. I saw a spherical object floating in the distance and redirected to intercept. It took several times to be able to get close enough to pick it from the water. There was a whole colony of crabs and clams living on it. Unfortunately after closer inspection, it was not made of glass, so we turned it free. After a few hours of reflection, I was regretting not picking it up. It may have been the only souvenir I get form the trip this direction. So, behold, another one. I was able to divert to this one and get it on the first try. Dave took it fomr me and I tied a line to it, and it is not trailing behind the boat. I imagine the residents are having meetings to determine what to do with the new circumstances.

Hopefully the wind will hold and we will be able to sail all night.