Navigating with the stars

Tonight my team started night watch at 10pm. Anton suggested to fold up the bimini and I had hesitations, especially because the other team had been drenched by squalls multiple times, whilst we managed to stay mostly dry… Once the bimini was folded up the view across the starlit dome above our heads had us in awe and got our full attention. I am writing this during the same watch as I aim to share the beauty of the ocean and special moments we are witnessing during our voyage.

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Let me transport you to the helm of Adrienne in our aft cockpit where we spend four hours on this night watch.

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Imagine standing at the helm. The air is warm and humid. Your face and arms are sticky and whisps of hair fly in the warm salty breeze. Both hands on the wheel give you a sense for the pressure on the rudder. Your firm stance lets you feel the motion of the boat. Tonight, Adrienne is swiftly gliding along on a bearing of 030° at a speed of 7.5 kts. The helm is in the mood of a calm labrador (our watch has developed the habit of describing the response on the helm with dog behaviours). The labrador turns a little playful as a wave hits the rudder and Adrienne balances back after a smooth swing of the helm.

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Once you feel you’ve calibrated your hands and feet to Adrienne´s dance, you look up from the display and rely on your senses to guide the boat. Tonight’s spectacle allows us to sail by the stars (saying this, I send a wink of the eye to my dad whom I know loves such conditions). We are on a starboard tack: the main sail is in the first reef and the staysail is flying right behind it. Looking up the mast you can see the top swing in circles pointing playfully at a group of stars. To the right of the mast you see Castor and Pollux – two striking stars in the constellation of Gemini. (Without the option of fact-checking who these twins are, we get sidetracked into creative story telling.) Every twinkle in this mesmerising dome corresponds to light that has travelled for many lightyears. Tonight, that light (coming from within and outside our galaxy) is guiding us across this vast open space towards our destination. What a humbling thought out here in the world of wind and waves. 

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”Oh look, a shooting star just flew past the Pleiades!” Kif calls out. You can see the faint cluster of the Pleiades (also called the Seven Sisters) at two o´clock above where you are standing. Further to the right and a little below the Pleiades, you´ll find the V-shaped constellation of Taurus, the bull. And even further on to the right, you can recognise the hunter Orion with his characteristic belt. Just below Orion’s belt lies the Orion nebula where new stars are being born. What a depth of natural wonders! Anton points up at Sirius – the brightest star in the night sky that just rose from the horizon. It lies in the constellation of Canis Major – Orion’s dog. A storyline that helps memorising this set of constellations is that Orion and his dogs are chasing the bull who in turn is protecting the Seven Sisters (the rationale of this story is a source of much speculation during our watch).

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Adrienne is 70ft long and an excitingly large boat to sail. Despite the strength and stability with which she carries us, it is humbling to sail with her through this vast ocean. Witnessing and sharing constellations builds a link to ancient cultures and seafarers, and this view into a world of lightyears and galaxies challenges the day to day notions of space and time you so recently left behind. 

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It is time for the hourly log. You switch on your red headlight, stretch your legs to get around the big wheel and work your harness around the multiple strongpoints in the cockpit. You go down the short ladder, past the sleeping crew members and through the narrow hallway to the nav station. Sitting at the nav table you can hear the water flow along Adrienne’s hull. As you open the logbook, you fill in the first line on a new page, marking the start of day #8 of this voyage. You note boat speed, course over ground, latitude, longitude, wind, and take a look at the barometer, battery voltages and the level of water in the bilge. After completing the log, you head back up to the cockpit to rejoin the animated chitchat among your watch crew.

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I hope you’ve enjoyed this brief visit to our night watch. Thank you for joining us as we sail under the stars. 

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