Date: 15 December 2014.
Night Crossing.
Guest author Kevin on M/V Lisas Way.
This piece is for
The Writer's Block.
It's written by Kevin who cruises Alaska. It was posted live during
a night crossing of the Gulf of Alaska. This is why we get to know
our equipment...
Gulf of Alaska circled.
This map is from my 1943 Rand McNally atlas.
Kevin wrote:
I have to admit, its been a long time since I
operated a boat at night. Imagine this...You're in a sea that is
safe but moves the boat around quite a bit. OK you can imagine that.
Now take away all of your visual references. You cannot see. You do
not know when a wave is going to hit. But you learn. You get a feel
for the rhythm. You begin to anticipate the next set.
This is a time when you live by your radar and
your chart plotter, because this is is really all you have between
you and danger. Unimaginable danger. The primal fear danger of not
surviving. Right now this is my world. This is night shift on the MV
Lisas Way.
Right now at this particular moment I am very
happy that my Furuno Manual looks old and tattered. Why...Because
I've read it. Not once, but many times, over a period of years. I
know that equipment. I know that when the radar shows something it
really exists. I know that when it shows nothing that's because
nothing is out there. Because when your equipment is all that
separates you from the darkest of times, having confidence in that
equipment is all that keeps you sane.
Right now I'm in the middle of my 4 hour watch.
Jamison is asleep in his bunk, and I am at the helm. I can see the
tip of Kyak Island that we just passed. I can see a couple of shower
cells on the radar. Other than that all is quiet on the MV Lisas
Way.
This is why we get
to know our equipment...
The End.
©
Kevin
onboard Lisas Way. His website is: http://mvlisasway.com
Regarding the Comments Section,
found at the end of every article:
-
Before you type in each block be
sure to hit the backspace key. Coding inserts a space in every box.
Your email address will come back as malformed unless you remove
that space. (You don't have to include your email address.)
-
The capcha is case sensitive.
|
COMMENTS:
© 2014, 2020, 2023
Categories:
Boats,
Characters,
Gear,
Locations,
The Writer's Block
Music aboard Seaweed (Alzheimer's too) ~
Previous Post
...
... Next Post
~
Bookbinding for Beginners
|