day 14 - narrow sunset

narrow sunset
Originally uploaded by lawatt

another day of complete overcast, rather like the classic "june gloom" of southern calif -- wind was "gusting" to 6 knots on our morning watch, so Auto did the steering all day. there was a light misty grey rain in the morning, david made biscuits again PLUS polenta and scrambled eggs -- way too much food, all delicious

from my journal, just after noon:
"the ocean looks empty, but closer inspection reveals a multitude of Vela vela, the small jellyfish called 'by-the-wind sailors' -- the ones i've seen washed up on the beach are usually a few inches across, but these are all TINY, many no bigger than a fingernail -- like someone shook a saltshaker over the sea, leaving a generous sprinkling... Engine off briefly for a maintenance check -- it's SO quiet, just a gentle sloshing as the velas drift by on their proud little sails, and our own slatting sails in the barely-there breeze. a blue and grey world surrounds and envelopes... and now the rumble of the engine returns, and we keep churning our way toward the golden gate and home, only 218 miles to go."

noontime position: 36° 40' N, 126° 56' W, 156 nautical miles in the past 24 hours...

bits of sunshine appeared occasionally in the afternoon, but then the clouds closed back in again -- but left the slimmest edge free, right at the horizon, making for an incredibly narrow sunset -- I sat in the cockpit watching it progress (while david made amazing macaroni and cheese for dinner) for what seemed like ages, getting brighter and brighter as the sun got lower behind the clouds, looking like an edge of flames rising up out of the sea...

and once the sun got to that skinny gap, I made david come up to the cockpit to watch it, and we both saw a green flash as it finally sank into the ocean -- which neither of us had ever seen before! I only wish my camera could have caught it -- a brilliant green burst, lasting only part of a second as the sun made its departure. such an incredible treat, it felt like a wonderful gift...

night watch brought two ships passing us, and a crescent moon-set through that same small gap in the clouds on the horizon, turning the moon a dark orange -- i almost didn't recognize it as the moon at first!