She’s a big ship on a much bigger ocean2335

What a difference a few days make. The last 24 hours has been at times hilarious and at times daunting. As each of us has settled in - finding a bit more confidence and conffort and how we handle the ship, the change of conditions, the time with each other - we’ve had some incredible moments of pleasure and excitement.  We also have faced the fact that although Adrienne is a very big ship, she sails over a much, much bigger sea.  

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My watch, which includes Tonya, Katelyn and Katy, had gotten into a pretty good rhythm of good conversation, funny banter, and coziness in our late night sessions. Deep into our 2 to 6am watch Naxo abruptly came to the cockpit to ask if we had seen a ship’s lights to port.  None of us had.  It wasn’t on the AIS, and we were neither scanning the horizon nor looking closely or appropriately at our radar.  This vessel had gotten within a mile and a half of us and we were oblivious. It was a bit shocking. I was embarrassed and a bit flustered. We all recommitted to being more attentive - treating our watch as a verb not a noun.  Shortly after this we did observe on radar a couple of larger shipping vessels approaching from the starboard side. They were running somewhat parallel to each other, and we cross our path around daybreak. Manot came up to the cockpit up as the light lifted and we could see the hazy outlines of these massive ships. He then guided us through the slow motion but high risk process of threading position and direction with large vessels in open water.  With Manot on the radar and us on binoculars calling out hand bearings, we compared our path, their projected trajectory and our respective speeds minute by minute to assess our course of action.  On the water, a sailing vessel in many cases has right of way. The so-called stand on vessel is supposed to maintain course and speed and allow the give way vessel (the cargo ships) a clear understanding of how to avoid us. However, the real world fact is they’re moving fast, fuel to change course is expensive and we are minuscule. This is not a time for a game of chicken. Manot had to do what we’re supposed to do by staying our course, but also be ready to take action if it seemed like we might come too close. The closer ship veered off quite obviously as our hand bearing readings ticked upward and we moved past a collision course. The further ship seemed to be holding steady for a longer period. It might’ve adjusted course, but it was hard to tell. After some more nervous minutes Manot decided that we would adjust our course to starboard, aiming for the current center of the cargo ship, which gave it plenty of room to pass ahead of us. 

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The next watch - Peter, Chris, and James - had a similar dance with two cargo ships. This time like a zipper the ships were coming in from 2 directions with us coming up the middle. I can’t speak for how it felt to them, but I get the sense that it was also somewhat nerve-racking.

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The whole night was a wake up call.  We might feel comfortable handling Adrienne, but we’re not on cruise control and this is no highway.  We are in a strange and uncertain world. How we act, what we see, and most importantly how we respond has real world consequences in an environment that cares not at all for our comfort and safety.

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I think all of us chose this trip knowing it would be at times hard, may be a little scary, certainly taxing. But that was the choice to join made upfront.  Speaking for myself, the many pleasures and joyful moments (sun, music, food) of the last few days had lulled me. I had not realized to what degree sailing the open ocean requires a daily commitment to awareness, intention, and vigilance.  I’m glad for all of us my tutorial was clear but relatively mild.