Friday 19/5/10 – ?

Don and the crew didn’t feel that the weather was favorable for our planned departure on Thursday, so it was Friday midday before we left the bay to head out, the weather was good, and our first day back at sea was quite lovely, even I enjoyed it. (that’s not something you will hear me say very often)

In fact the first two days at sea were enjoyable and easy going, we had to do a bit of motoring to speed up,  idea being that we would try to beat a storm coming up the coast.  We are trying to time our arrival that we will follow one storm but be ahead of the other.  Weather stuff is all very complex, much too complicated for my little landlubbers brain to comprehend.

During the first couple of days at sea, Lesley and I took advantage of the calm seas and set about preparing meals ahead of time, so we would have ready made meals for when the going got rough, and we wouldn’t be able to function in the galley.  This turned out to be the fourth day at sea.  

Oh For Those Lovely Nights At Sea!

Following a very uncomfortable, rolly third night, where I spent the entire  night in a loosing battle with the seas, attempting not to get tossed out of bed.  

Bob was on the 11 – 1am shift which meant there were two hours where I was in bed alone and able to lie against the leigh cloth for protection and grab a little sleep, the rest of the night was spent clinging like a leach desperately onto the side of the mattress in a vain attempt to stop myself from rolling into Bob and waking him up every few minutes. There is a center leigh cloth as well as the side, but when  that’s up I feel as though I’m stuffed into a coffin and my claustrophobia kicks in big time. 

One time I fell asleep and rolled across the bed crashing into Bob, and would, without the side leigh cloth in place, have sent him spinning to the floor. Oh how I love these rolly nights at sea (NOT). 

Aside from the continuous movement, the bedroom switches from being a fridge when the air-con is running, to a sauna if the hatches are closed and the air-con off.

For those of you that have not slept on a boat in a very rolly sea, it feels as though the elements are doing their level best to toss you around just for the fun of it, the boat tips violently to one side, then the next and sometimes jumps forward, but is always at an angle, never flat, so you’re constantly being tossed around as though in a tumble dryer, it really is about as uncomfortable as anything could be, if it doesn’t make you seasick it will at the very least make you incredibly angry and irritable, especially after three nights without proper sleep.  

Three days to go to reach Mackay, Australia.  Lesley and I already have plans to spend a night in a hotel and have a massage