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Day 115
Fri Jun 29 04:35:59
2007 UTC - 18 2.43 S - 71 43.83 E
(Friday, June 29 )
" I
Asked God to heal my ill brother. God said: No. His spirit is
healthy, his body is only temporary."
Yesterday about 4:30 pm my brother Mirek went on his last returning
cruise. Let the angels show him the road to the atoll of God's Love
from which he once came to us.
MIREK
Day 114
Thu Jun 28
03:39:35 2007 UTC - 17 38.84 S - 73 17.98 E
(Wednesday, 27
June)
The wind still blows, yesterday however I decided to use this
mini storm in order to check the elements of rigging and reefing in
strong wind. Up until now I had no occasions. IN California Luka
stood on dry, and in Ensenada through our stay it never blew more
than 25 knots. I put the steering sail on first reef, it looked
nice, then smoothly I went down to second reef and in the end I let
it down altogether. With back winds the steering sail is useless, it
pushes the stern on lee and in consequence the Yacht is very
windward which we arre naturally not missing. I took over the
grotto, not without trouble I pulled it to first reef. Reefing with
strong wind is much easier than putting up sail, especially because
in such circumstances it doesn't stand to the wind. I pulled the
grotto like the steering sail to first reef, I secured contra wave
and the grinding wheel of boom. Luka sloped a little, the Reefed up
clothed grotto looked like a wing of an aircraft. I went from side
to mast, I looked up and again in the course of last few days felt
disappointment and worry. The top part of the mast from second
platform was bent back, and at each inclination it bent as if
swaying a finger at me. At reefed sails, the strong wind
dramatically changed the spread of the masts' strength. I threw down
the grotto, I secured it solidly to boom, went under the deck and
made coffee. Somewhere half-way through the mug the situation seemed
less threatening. I will wait for a calmer day, and coursing between
beak and stern I will loosen the archer stays a little at a time and
solidly stretch both stays. There will, however, be a problem with
the roller. It has two flat irons tightened at both sides holding
all the stay, they fasten the whole roller system. I should take
them down from both sides, stretch the stay with a turn-buckle, then
go to the top of the mast, loosen the screws holding the roller
guides, so that the whole thing would move on stay upward, go back
down, return the screws on flat irons to stay, now again go to the
top of the mast and tighten guides. Uff. I have not intention to
enter the mast in such conditions. I will have to think of a shorter
way, and I will, but first I have to get to it, I will find a way
while I work. If I don't find a solution, I will have to throw
anchor on some sheltered shallow waters and like a clown on a
string, fly up the mast. The day after tomorrow the wind is supposed
to weaken a little, let's have hope that Mother Ocean will smoothen,
then we will get to work ..
Day 113
Wed Jun 27 03:24:34
2007 UTC - 17 26.42 S - 74 51.57 E
(Tuesday, June 26)
Yesterday the wind started to blow stronger, today on deck
the force of the wind reaches 32 knots, if we measured it, as it is
usually done on top, we would have an 8. In spite of this, I could
put up more sails, but we are not in a hurry anywhere. Beer at Cape
Town in 6 weeks .. .we will make it.
Day 112
Tue Jun 26 03:21:11
2007 UTC - 18 9.06 S - 76 24.58 E
Something told me
yesterday to check out the ship's sides. Luka has semicircular
sides, so holding the stays I had to bend out pretty far to see the
water line. What I saw caused worry and disappointment. A belt
around 40-50cm above the water line is overgrown with little
seashells. I dont mean a few dozen, there are many thousands about
the yacht. They grew where there was not anti-growth paint. And
because we rock incessantly, they spend half the time underwater,
which is evidently enough. Since yesterday I was wondering how to
free myself of them... The first thought was of fins and a sharp
scraper, but since the Tores Strait it rocks incessantly, and
something tells me that it will stay that way, and scraping the
razor-sharp shells hugging the rocking ship's side, would be foolish
and dangerous. I remember that I had a paint scraper somewhere,
something like a super, prim spatula. I will find it, attach it to
the bent like the ship's side solid aluminum flat iron and the whole
thing I will tighten to a cart which can shorten and lengthen ... I
wonder how strongly they attached, but I think that pretty well.. On
the Pacific both ship's sides were empty when I went in the water in
order to untangle the fishing-rods from a screw. I remember that
Chay Blyth on British Steel had the same problem and he was not able
to resolve it. We will see how it will go for us.
Day 111
Mon Jun 25 03:28:41
2007 UTC - 18 0.76 S - 77 46.90 E
(Saturday, June
23th)
Yesterday we had a hard-working day. The preceding night Mr. Monsoon
brought
us some black clouds, and from time to time some strong squalls fell
from
them, after which there would be a half-an-hour's silence. Poor
autopilot
would beep pitifully, announcing that without the wind it couldn’t
keep
Luka on course, and the mainsail trashed about and made sounds like
fireworks. I decided to suspend the sailing operations for the
night, take
down the mainsail and drift on the march-storm sail. It turned out,
however,
that for some reason I couldn’t take down the mainsail completely,
even
though I put the line turning the reefing mechanism around a big
capstan. I
stopped pulling...Something was wrong. I turned on the deck lights
but on
the swinging deck I couldn’t see anything that I could unhook or
unfold.
The next day, in the rays of the rising sun I checked everything in
detail
and it turned out that the last section of aluminum guide roller was
bent,
which caused resistance at rolling down the sail and secondly the
sail was
caught on a valve. For the last few days we were going in a rather
strong
wind with a reefed up mainsail and somehow this bent the last
section of the
aluminum roller tube. It’s difficult for me to believe that it could
bent
being on a stretched stay ... At first I thought that the stay
became loose,
but it turned out to be as it should be. This however was a detail,
after a
few folds and unfolds, the resistance which the bent tube gave
almost
disappeared altogether, but this adventure turned my attention to
the
mainsail and thanks to this I discovered that the line which turns
the
reefing mechanism rubs a lot in one place (rubbing of the sail lines
is the
nightmare of long cruises) Let's imagine that the wind really begins
to
blow, especially at night, I try to fold the mainsail but the
damaged cable
that turns the roller, wrapping the sail around the stay, suddenly
breaks ... Total mess! The mainsail, big as an aircraft unfolds and there is
no way
to fold it. Now, trashing about like a caught dragon, it’s necessary
to
pull it centimeter by centimeter from the narrow chink and pray that
I
don’t break my hands ... I don’t want to describe this “mess" any
further, so that I won’t “call” it here for supper. Now I’m glad for
yesterday's troubles, because at least I know what’s going on.
I turned the other end of the line to the roller, now the damaged
part is
on my end, and I put an added block right near the roller, which
will stop
the line from rubbing, at least in that spot. It’s strange that
nothing
was coming apart for my friend on Lady B…maybe they were rocking on
four…or decided that it’s not worth mentioning…
Day 110
Sun Jun 24 03:43:53
2007 UTC - 17 36.49 S - 79 21.85 E
No changes in
weather, a lot of work on deck today.
Day109
Sat Jun 23 05:44:28
2007 UTC - 17 14.34 S - 80 44.39 E
(Friday, June 22th)
 
Day 108
Fri Jun 22 02:57:02
2007 UTC - 16 44.06 S - 83 26.97 E
(Thursday, June 21)
Before dawn the
wind became weaker, and the rising sun showed a strange
world. All around us, luckily in decent distance, hung black clouds,
touching the surface of the sea. At once a song came to my head;
"Hey, do
you see it, this black cloud is heading for us..."
After a quick analysis it appeared that the one nearest us only
scares us
and will pass us by. The sun, not giving up, would shine through the
breaks
in the clouds like through slits in a cliff, strengthening a strange
impression. After a certain time one black cloud changed course and
came
straight for us. It blew the wind into the reefed sails like a
hammer, and
then it simply soaked us. Of course, I and Wacek faced her, I
without any
armor and with an Irish Spring in my hand, and Wacek with the tail
down and
the rest of the shampoo on him. The water pulled off from us, more
than it
washed off, the swelter of last month, and cleaned the deck, taking
with it
Wacek’s droppings and sea salt. It turned out that I did not do good
work
putting new Lexan tiles in the manhole of fore cabin valve, a little
water
got in there, enough to irritate... Around midday the sun won and drove away the rest of the black
companions over the horizon, and in reward for the gray morning it
illuminated a gorgeous rainbow over us,
which by magic started (or ended, who can guess) on our stern. I
hope that
the minimized picture, which I’m enclosing, will show even a bit of
this
magic ... It is rumored that on the end of each rainbow can be found
a
covert treasure. I quickly ran over the contents of the stern cabin
in my
mind, there is no special treasure there... But maybe it’s the whole
Luka
that is my treasure, a bridge filling a whole that’s dividing me
from
greater treasure...
Day 107
Thu Jun 21 02:57:50
2007 UTC - 16 41.03 S - 85 46.91 E
(Wednesday, June 20th)
The wind blew a little
today, the weather prognosis „spoke” about 20
knots, and it’s actually about 30... Honorable Mr. Monsoon fills his
cheeks, blows and elevates the waves. The autopilot pump sounds like
someone
is killing it. We’re going with a sharp backstay and we carry only
the
front reefed sails, in order to ease the incessantly working
autopilot pump,
which has been working like that since Ensenada. Even though it’s
warm,
Wacek stopped barking at the birds and follows me around like a
shadow ..
I’m going to open the next can of bacon today. We’re continuing the
feast of fat and saturated by bacon sauces. I discovered that if I
like the
taste of something, I can continue to eat it every day for a
month... What
we were eating for two weeks now is Spaghetti a'la Luka. Elements; 1
US Army
dinner (a bit of chopped up beef in mushroom sauce, which tastes
like an old
shoe sole), half a glass of milk, half a bag of tomato pomade, about
10 (or
more) of bacon strips from a can, a few bits of hot pickled paprika,
pinch
of chicken soup in powder, spoon of sugar, and finally a little
flour mixed
with water. The pasta boils on the side. We add a little oil and
salt to the
water. The pasta absolutely has to be kind of hard, a little
uncooked. After
10 minutes of smacking my lips which many Japanese could envy, I
give the
remainder of the plate to Wacek, which is like putting it in a
modern
dishwasher. Wacek happily gobbles up the rest of the “marine
delicacies”, leaving only a shiny clean plate and fork. The next
cooking
will be tomorrow after I send the mail.
Day 106
Wed Jun 20 03:56:29
2007 UTC - 16 33.59 S - 87 52.34 E
(Tuesday, June 19th)
Without dramas or
adventures we’re heading in the direction of Madagascar,
and because it’s without adventures, not counting the details that
enrich
our lives, it seems that this cruise is the holiday on the sea that
we
deserve. It’s no secret to anyone who thinks about themselves and
the
surrounding world, that every person aware of this fact, or not
aware of it,
creates and appoints to life their own micro world. Consciously or
not, we
create what we then meet. In connection with this, my cruise to
Ensenada will do
without unwanted adventures and will end like holidays end, because
that’s
what I created for myself. It’s sad that many people are not able to
connect these not too subtle concepts and remain reactive to events
playing
out under their noses, instead of consciously creating them.
Ignorant of
consequences they allow the accidental emotions, thoughts and
decisions to
shape their world without their conscious contribution. Most of us
are like
a herd directed by shepherds who, at first patiently, from birth
make us
believe that there exist in the world dogs with sharp teeth, just
waiting
for our exposed throats, and when they repeat this lie enough times,
enough
to sink in, they then watch over us like we were their own private
herd,
promising some free of the dogs, but guarded by hundreds of
conditions
pastures….Those more courageous, instinctively knowing this is a
lie, run
away, often before they notice the consequences of this fraud. Then
from a
distance these pastures can be seen clearly, the ones woven with
fears and
medicines, and instead of dogs, a band of shepherds imitating
barking and
growling, afraid for their own throats... And right beside this
await the
rest of the world, in which we can be anyone and everything, if only
we will
learn to love ourselves, and if we let that love lead us to its
source.
Then, every time we have to make a decision, which we have to make
daily, we
can ask ourselves what decision love would make.... Decisions made
like this
open up a great, intriguing world, one in which we learn our own and
“His” nature.
Day 105
Tue Jun 19 02:38:24
2007 UTC - 16 31.87 S - 89 45.97 E
(Monday, June 18th)
The wind died this
morning, but after a windy night the high wave remained, maybe it
will settle down in the evening... Besides that nothing worth
describing happened.
Day 104
Mon Jun 18 02:41:32
2007 UTC - 16 33.83 S - 91 47.00 E
(Sunday, June 17th)
My brother is doing
better, yesterday he ordered someone to go out for beer:-), it looks
like his heart is slowly getting better and soon he will stand on
his own two feet. We had a little turbulent night, it rocked us a
little, the wind blows, right now it blows 30 knots/h, but this is
only squall. We are going full backstay under deeply reefed
mainsail, with still advanced boom, and under a marching foresail. I
will probably take off the boom; it seems that it will still blow
from this direction. Wacek follows me around like a shadow, I think
he is scared. The dramatic adventures of the crew, along with the
complete absence of beers, moved the susceptive nature of my uncle
Janek, who is making the noble plans to support the desperate
beer-lacking crew and maybe he will deliver some to us in the
neighborhood of Cape Town, right after we will pass Cape of Good
Hope. He plans to find us on the boundless ocean in a rented
fisherman's smack and in a noble motion throw before our beak a few
cartons of strong beer with some string attached to the parcel.
Maybe we will not be condemned to water from the desalting device
for the rest of the cruise. There is a wise proverb which in our
adaptation would go like - "if you satisfy the thirst of one beer
drinker, it is like you would give beer to the entire world. A wave
just passed through us, a little water got through the open window
of the kitchen and bathroom, and this is a sign that I have to close
them. Wacek doesn't make it on turns; he moves his paws on the wet
floor which gives him no traction... We have some clouds and
stronger wind for a change ... Today for the first time for almost
three months I put something on me. Of course unlike chief
Baranowski, who on these widths shamelessly showed his pale bum to
the sea, I do not take off my pants without a distinct
necessity...It is actually very interesting to read reports of a
solitary cruise around the world, when it is you who sails the
described world.....
Day 103
Sun Jun 17 02:05:12
2007 UTC - 16 28.18 S - 94 14.86 E
(Saturday, June 16th)
Today everything
is nicer. Mirek got through the crisis. In a year he will come to
visit us on the Bahamas...
Day 102
Sat Jun 16 03:10:26
2007 UTC - 16 23.33 S - 96 12.43 E
(Friday, June 15th)
Course, speed and
environment are without changes. Yesterday a depression settled on
the yacht, it cost us the remainder of beer and the greater part of
the bottle of green Johnnie Walker, then really drunk it went
elsewhere. Contrary to her whisperings we made a party in the
steering room. The evening was started by Andrzej Korycki, we sang
together (I louder) about sailors, tides and about one tear which
softened the heart of a hardened sea. When we ran out of songs, we
invited Ennio Morricone. Poor Wacek barked all the time confused by
a multitude of new sounds in the richly arranged music of the
"little" Italian. Morricone's music actually brings about images. It
is enough just to close your eyes and you will see walking about in
a park, thoughtful woman, or extraordinarily pretty waterfalls in an
Amazon jungle, which were witness of the drama of a renewed
"banishment" from paradise, which is a theme of a beautiful film,
made even more splendid by Morricone's music, titled " Mission ".
Our party ended with Deep Forest playing charming, local motives
gathered all around the world, overheard somewhere in an African
cottage or during a wedding in Asiatic little village. Then they are
set in a modern arrangement like a precious stone incrusted in a
gold locket.....The morning proved unpleasant for me. Besides the
hangover I got a very unpleasant text message from Ilawa informing
me that my brother had a massive heart attack and is in a hospital
... Something tells me, however, that he will pull through and we
will both build a fire on Lipowiec many times yet..
Day 101
Fri Jun 15 02:57:08
2007 UTC - 16 16.87 S - 98 18.84 E
(Thursday, June
14th)
I couldnt sleep. I
turned in the sleeping-berth which on the cruise I appointed between
the edge of the table and the support of the sofa. In the end I gave
up, I put water on for tea and I went out on deck. We were sliding
on the wrinkled "Indian" , in the arms of a warm monsoon with a
convenient for Luka speed of 5- 6 knots, although at night there is
an impression that the yacht moves faster and objects (if there are
any) are nearer. This was an exceptionally dark night. Black clouds
concealed the moon; there was only one solitary star.... I sat on a
folded pontoon with the mug of sweet tea and I stared at it, it
seemed distant and altogether not interested in us. Clouds started
to part because I noticed another star. But this one was strange, it
kept disappearing, and it was low.... My calm disappeared somewhere.
I thought that in a few moments I will have a subject to report for
my friend Sztajmes from NY, who likes UFO's. I went to get the
binoculars, but when I returned, through the noise of water moving
around the stern, I heard the distant sound of engines. In a moment,
almost over the water, not farther than 200 miles from the left
ship's side, like a great, night bird, perhaps gray, and perhaps
without any signs, flew a great aircraft. It seemed to me that there
was a light-blue light in place where the pilot cabin should be.
Without doubt and distinctly I felt the smell of fumes from his
engines... maybe these were smugglers flying low over the water, in
order to avoid radar.... And maybe I dreamed all this ... However
this morning I found a mug left at night on the folded pontoon. It
is not a big deal, it is rumored that all, including us, is an
illusion, and the only truth is experiencing it.
Day 100
Thu Jun 14 02:53:57
2007 UTC - 16 21.01 S - 100 35.03 E
(Wednesday , June
13th)
We are translocating
to the west, around 2 degrees every twenty-four hours, a warm,
eastern wind pushes us, life goes by lazily and I only miss Beata
... Yesterday I searched for something in our cabin and under the
mattress of a broad sleeping-berth, which I did not use from moment
we sailed out, I found a red blouse. I put it to my face and felt
the familiar smell of Beata's perfume and then the smell of her hair
... Oh, this was splendid.
If somebody saw me doing this they would probably think “ an idiot
smeller..." When the coast disappears, scents disappear with it...
The sea possesses only one, specific smell, besides that it is
deserted of smells. I distinctly smelled the land when over the
horizon we passed islands on the Pacific, and not even looking at
the map I knew that we were approaching the Torres Strait, smelling
strange, but at the same time familiar smell of land. For Wacek the
sea is perhaps not a desert, he often presses his nose in the holes
of the fishing net set on railing and passionately smells something
from afar. Perhaps if he was able to speak in full sentences he
would say that the sea's surface is not so empty...However for me,
the aromatic desert of the Indian Ocean started weeks ago, and now
this gift of chance, the red blouse full of gorgeous familiar
scents, almost overwhelmed me. I hid it back so I wouldn't smell it
all, to have a little left over for later. I will take it out again,
when I'll start to get depressed...From the perspective of land,
which is full of smells, it may seem unimportant, but here on the
sea, you can distinctly feel the lack of smells. Especially when
such a guest appears suddenly from under the mattress and like an
often heard song brings with it familiar pictures and tastes of that
reality. On the other hand someone should invent a camera which
besides pictures will also capture smell..... It hasn't rained for a
while, if such a camera actually existed, my photo today would not
come out good...
Day 99
Wed Jun 13 03:11:00
2007 UTC - 16 21.19 S - 102 47.40 E
(Wednesday, June
12th)
At night a contraction
of my stomach woke me up, at first I thought that this was a
continuation of a dream about my ex wife, but after another
contraction I realized that it was yesterday's supper. Yesterday I
opened a gallon box of dried pork. The meat is first frozen, then
dried and tightly closed in a metal can. So prepared it is supposed
to stay edible for 30 years. I bought some of that before the cruise
in case of an accident. So, we have a cardboard of pork, cardboard
of bacon and many eggs in powder. It seems that it is impossible to
make scrambled eggs from this; it comes out tasting like camphor.
Yesterday's pork I soaked for 15 minutes in lightly salted, warm
water, it magically changed from dry fibers into pieces of meat,
somewhat darker than fresh pork. I made pork chops from them using
the powdered eggs with water and bread crumbs. I craved fresh meat,
I am carnivorous by nature. The pork chops, if you dont look at them
too long, taste ok, however somewhere deeper you can feel the faint
taste of cement and that was probably what led to the explosive
diarrhea. After the first attack, I threw the contents of the can
overboard ... Wacek also broke down and put a mine on his favorite
box with accumulators. We still have the bacon in cans, but this was
made for the army. Likewise packed, but in better cans, 300 pieces
of fried bacon, layered spirally with special paper in between.
After opening the can the entire mesa smelled great. You can eat it
right after opening, or add to meals, if you like the taste of fried
bacon in sauces, I love it. Lately what is popular in mesa is fried
canned pork with asparagus bean. The overeating of fish had passed,
yesterday I threw out the fishing-rod, bait, wire and bit of string.
At night some little monster broke everything..... .. It is time for
a stronger string...
Day 98
Tue Jun 12 03:17:27
2007 UTC - 16 18.96 S - 104 55.60 E
(Monday, June 11th)
At night we again had a pass-by. It seems that my fears of
getting run over keep attracting those who could actually make that
come true...Around midnight I saw a little, but bright light before
the beak. After a moment the glow disappeared, but the radar showed
a little echo at the 12th mile. After 20 min. I saw, already
distinctly, the positional lights of some giant, white in center,
green on left, red on right. It looked like it was heading straight
at us. I turned on the radio and started to call to him, after some
time someone answered in English softened with Russian... I asked if
he was Russian, he answered yes, we talked for a few moments, and it
turned out to be a Norwegian general cargo ship, with a Russian
crew, in road to Australia. At one point, he said - ok, my friend,
we will pass by port to starboard (left ship's side to right). I
automatically agreed, these giants have radars with computers and
GPS. They know exactly the direction of and speed of elapsed
objects, they analyze this data and inform if the course is off
base. I accepted his decision and after a moment the Russian changed
his course, now I saw his nearing red light. I thought for a longer
moment, it is easy to hit those colors and sides, especially since
the giant is coming from the opposite direction, so what is for me
is on the left, for him is on the right ... However after a moment I
did not have doubt that he changed course to pass before our beak. I
grabbed the radio and said that I would rather see his green lights
than red. He was silent for a moment, and then asked what course I'm
taking, I informed him that 268*, in a moment he again changed
course and now I saw his green light. We passed each other at a
distance of 1 mile. He asked about my course so he didn't have a
good radar, maybe he counted that he will pass before our beak in
time because he was going fast, but this was naive and altogether
contrary to safety rules on the sea. My colleague from Kaliningrad
made a mistake ... With relief I watched him pass us by, he kept
asking about Luka, so I turned on the deck lights. Six strong
searchlights suspended on the cross-trees of both masts illuminated
us like a baseball field. In a moment he showed the illuminated wall
of the stern and we finished talking... Mr Baranowski gives in his
last book the probability of a collision on full sea, it turns out
that the likelihood is minimal. Accounts are accounts and even
though black was not my favorite color, the black empty horizon
seems nicer to me somehow ...
Day 97
Mon Jun 11 00:30:30
2007 UTC - 16 16.19 S - 107 12.74 E
(Sunday, June 10th)
This was a stormy night, I was the eyewitness of some strange
political revolution in Vatican .. .. Hehe, altogether a mad dream.
In spite of this I woke up refreshed and full of energy. Like usual
I poked my head from the wheelhouse, in order to check out the deck,
it was still gray and it looked like someone came in a night trolley
and unloaded on the deck a load of flying fish. I jumped out from
the wheelhouse, I went over nib which fulfils the functions of
safety cable and to which I should attach myself, I went nearer and
really, I didn't dream it, we had an invasion of flying fish last
night, I tried to count them, but at 100 I gave up. I noticed a bent
railing at the beak. We rocked a little in the night, maybe some
wave poured here along with the fishes and bent the railing. On the
other hand, I wonder about descriptions of sailors, for ex. Chay
Blyth who says that the fluttering of fish on deck always woke him
up, and because he made a contract that he wont eat them and by the
same they wont eat him, he would get up at night and return them to
water. It is strange how he could hear them through the incessant
groans and the creaking of the yacht ... Maybe British Steel was
empty in the center, like a drum, and the deck had no isolation ...
Anyway, I am deaf to their misfortune, although Im woken up by
other, unnatural sounds of the Luka. For a long time I was busy
getting rid of them, I tried to throw them all out, because Wacek
has a stinking custom of burying them somewhere on deck, and after
some days he finds one of them and runs around with it in his mouth,
then he comes to lick me. ..
Day 96
Sun Jun 10 00:02:01
2007 UTC - 16 1.63 S - 109 11.44 E
(Saturday, June
10th)
Yesterday after sunset
I had to turn on the voracious anchor light (cant even dream about
navigational lights, when we were under full sails, they eat too
much of current) instead of lights that I made with 16-hundred LED
at the beginning of cruise. These tiny working glimmers, it seems on
a basis of an electric hold, almost dont use any current. Singular
LED cant be compared with a bulb, but if we string them together,
like 16 in a row they give as much light as a 30W bulb, and use only
0.03A/24V. The ones Im using are big (5000). I installed a few in
each frame of light on the yacht. Now even in the darkest night, the
inside of Luka looks like a pale dawn, of course, we can always turn
on normal lights. Today we have to find a reason why our positional
lamp on stern with 16-hundred LED stopped warning others about our
being here.
PS: My friends tell me that a band of drunkards came together in my
Lipowiec ...
To your health mariners...
Day 95
Fri Jun 08 23:23:25
2007 UTC - 15 33.05 S - 111 19.33 E
Besides that we moved
a little to the west, there are no changes, nothing
worth describing happened.
Day 94
Fri Jun 08 01:15:28
2007 UTC - 15 8.22 S - 113 9.37 E
Another nice day, at
night I noticed a light at the ship's right side, and each light on
the horizon accelerates the heart of the recluse that I’m becoming
... It turned out, however, that this was a descending star. It’s
easy to mistake glimmers while sticking my head out from inside the
yacht, although in the case of descending stars the mistake quickly
clears up. After some time, for a fraction of a second I noticed
another light, this time on the left... After a moment it appeared
again and vanished. I turned the radar on but it showed nothing on
the rocking sea ... But I saw a glimmer on the horizon, it appeared
for longer now.. .. I was thinking .. If it’s blinking it means that
the light is low and disappears in the rhythm of the waves going up
and down. So it has to be something small, for giants such wave has
no effect. After a half hour the light stopped disappearing, and the
radar showed a feeble, vanishing every few moments, echo, 5 miles on
the left before the beak ... I tried to decide which direction this
something is moving, I waited fifteen minutes, but the light and the
anemic point on the radar didn’t move on either side. It looked like
it was very slowly moving in our direction ... Then, however, it
seemed that the dot on the radar moved a little to the right, but it
could have been that Luka’s beak moved to the left.. .autopilot was
going on smaller sensitivity and we were mouse hunting a little. In
such circumstances the new course, in order to safely pass by,
should pass over his stern. I changed course to 30* south ... We
passed him now on the right, and if I was right about his direction,
any moment now he should be further away on the right. After 10
minutes the light stood in the same place as if spell-bound. I
thought that pirates would not have positional lights, so that would
leave a fisherman .. That would also explain why he didn’t answer my
calls on the radio, he probably doesn’t know English ... We came
three miles closer and the light slowly started to move further
south... He probably stood in one place and was reigning in ropes ..
That’s a popular manner of fishing. On many kilometers of cables are
situated thousands of hooks with bait. The end of the cable is
attached to a buoy and once every twenty-four hours there’s harvest.
He probably stood there so long because he was reining in the line,
but he got spooked by Wacek’s barking and ran away.
DAY 93
Thu Jun 07 02:06:45
2007 UTC - 14 50.87 S - 114 58.20 E
(relation sent Wednesday night- time difference)
The course and the
rest is like yesterday. Like I thought, Wacek slept away yesterday's
adventure with the hook and he governed the deck since morning, like
a boss man of any orderly yacht should. However he distinctly
ignores the fishing fixings, it seems that his sorrow is not limited
only to hooks. Today we will fry a piece of fish murdered a few days
ago, we will load the ipod and enter the world of Lord Jim for a
while. I return to my favorite books gladly, maybe the cause is
early forgetfulness, but at least I’m not missing any good books. I
read The Trilogy, mainly “The Flood” 5 times ... A few times I read
books by Conrad, Assimov, Lysiak, Mario Puzo and a few others. Once
I discovered "Conversations with God”, “The Book of Urantii” and a
few others like that. Thanks to friends I have many books in text
and in a recording form on CD’s. Even if I didn’t read books over
and over again, there would still be enough of them for a few
solitary cruises. I read somewhere not long ago about a certain
55-year old man from California, who together with a 25-year old
girl has plans to sail the world three times nonstop. He says it
will take them three years ... Hehehe. If he was the super recluse
type, than alone he might stand a chance to do it, but with a young
woman... I don’t think so …although I wish them all the best...
DAY 92
Wed Jun 06 00:45:22
2007 UTC - 14 27.82 S - 116 55.57 E
(relation sent
Tuesday night- time difference)
We’re sailing
pleasantly to the southwest, at height 100*E and 20*S we will
straighten the course to the west, later before Madagascar we will
descend with an angle to southwest and quietly circle The cape of
Good Hope. Next we will make a second circle on the Atlantic Ocean,
this time deeper, we’ll go in northern direction, later we will
descend again to the southwest and further, politely along the
eastern coast of South America we will reach, and without problems
circle, Cape Horn. This is the route of sailors from Australia to
South Africa. The one from Africa to Cape Horn is Luka’s private
route, please don’t mimic it. We were still sailing at the coasts of
south America (planning, with finger on the map still), when Wacek
started to whine and scream, as if someone was peeling the skin off
him. I jumped on deck and I could not believe it. The little idiot
was caught on a fishing-rod ... he always liked to chew on the gum
bait on the hooks, but this time he went too far and got caught on a
big, rusty hook ...He was trashing around and screaming like crazy,
it took me a few good minutes to calm him down, I ordered him to
sit, and I ran quickly to the engine rooms for a pair of pliers.
Thanks to The Guardian of Foolish Dogs we had them on the yacht;
otherwise it would be difficult to cut through the bulky steel hook
sticking from his mouth. I calmed him down and delicately cut off
the end of hook. What remained was the ending with spike somewhere
in the center of Wacek’s lip. I got hold of it with the pliers and
first gently then more strongly I pulled. It didn’t want to come
out... Each time I tried again Wacek whined and yelped, but there
was no other way, I said - now it will hurt you, you fool, I made
sure that I would pull the hook in a circular motion – the way it
was bent and started pulling ... Wacek yelped and trashed around,
but after a moment the hook went out. Wacek immediately calmed down,
only now he won’t let me out of his sight and follows me step by
step, apparently he got scared... Now he’s laying with me on the
sofa, exhausted by the fight with the hook and every now and then he
raises his head as if checking if I’m still here ... He’ll be over
it tomorrow, but I think that from now on he’ll avoid the baits...
DAY 91
Tue Jun 05 00:16:35
2007 UTC - 14 11.71 S - 118 40.50 E
(relation sent
Monday night- time difference)
We’re slowly going out
to deeper waters, it’s becoming wider and safer, for a few days now
there is no sign of any tanker or any other giant, it’s peaceful
again and Mother Ocean smiles at us. I got a letter from Rudy from
Ilawa; he says that this weekend he’s sailing to my Lipowiec. I
proposed an honest exchange to him, that this weekend we’ll change
shoes, I will drink with the boys on Lipowiec, and then jump to
Florida to kiss my lovely wife and somewhere in the center of the
week, like a wind burnt and sun-bathed marine wolf, I would return
to my shop. Rudy would have easy navigating, especially if he
wouldn’t touch anything here. Luka sails by herself in the
moderately strong wind from NE. I would add to it a bottle of green
Johny. I wonder if he would agree ... Today fish again, fish for
breakfast, fish for dinner and fish for supper. Tomorrow I will open
a can of chicken, or pork. Fishing-rods are stretched on deck, God
help me if I would catch something and I would have to have fish
also tomorrow and day after tomorrow
DAY 90
Mon Jun 04 00:50:08
2007 UTC - 13 47.92 S - 120 21.35 E
(relation sent late
Sunday night- time difference)
I have the
impression that the water around boils with life. There’s a lot of
flying fish, I tried to take pictures, but they are too quick and
don’t stand out against the water enough, the pictures come out not
sharp. There are also some bigger fish, perhaps tuna, in the sky
hangs about thirty motionless birds and every moment one of them
plunges into the water and then flies up with a fish in its beak.
We’re sailing through the marine "El dorado”. In the morning all the
baits are pulled off again. I don’t have veinlets anymore, but I
have many old baits, I bought them in kilograms from some ex
fisherman in Port San Luis. They look like long imitations of
calamari and they turn in water very quickly. After 30 minutes the
bait will be at the stern with the veinlet tangled up in a ball. I
decided to go all out, I unscrewed 10 m of stainless wire, which
until now I used to safeguard turn-buckles and shackles and I
attached the artificial fish-calamari with a double hook. On the
other end of the wire I attached a lead ball the size of a golf ball
and tied a strong bit of string. The heavy ball holds the bait under
water and won’t let it turn. Right before twilight something pulled,
the bit of string tensed and played on the wind like a string, I
knew that I had a fish, I prayed that nothing tore off, but at the
same time I felt that this time the eater of flying fish will end up
on my frying pan. The fish turned out to be exquisite and fresh. I
froze a part of it, we will eat it over a few days, most of it me
and Wacek will eat today and maybe tomorrow if there’s any left. For
the time being I’m done with veinlets and baits for $20 each. Now is
the time for wire, a bit of string and an ordinary hook with bait.
DAY 89
Sat Jun 02 23:28:06
2007 UTC - 13 21.57 S - 121 51.46 E
In the evening when
loading the battery, I fixed the course for the night and it turned
out that my navigational system showed a 30-mile, brown, empty lane
going for 200 miles in the direction N - S. It looked like a tree
fallen across a road ... There was no information about depth or
obstructions on the way ... I have not idea what caused the
Navichart to leave such a great blind area on the map. We don’t know
what’s there. I took a large looking-glass and looked at the map of
general Indian Ocean, at length 13*20S and 120*30E I saw a great
period which definitely represented many cliffs protruding from the
water and the surrounding them stinging reef atoll ... We were going
straight to the west, a little below 13* degree. I got all hot, the
preceding night I was dreaming that I jumped up on deck and right at
the ship's side I saw black cliffs, glimmering in the light of the
moon. Please don’t let this be the dream of a prophet ... I read the
position of this atoll and put it as my “mark” on the computer map.
I spent the night in the steering room, waking every few moments,
and making sure that the autopilot held course. This was an example
of how shaky my self-confidence is, when I lose control over events,
and also – that I can’t trust electronic maps in any case. AMEN.
DAY 88
Sat Jun 02 00:51:39
2007 UTC - 12 58.84 S - 123 27.67 E
(relation sent late
Friday night- time difference)
Timor hit us at night.
About 2 am I got up in order to check position, we were sailing by a
few islands which we had no plans to visit. I sat down in the
steering room and with my eyes heavy with sleep I tried to read the
tiny numbers on the plotter. I stopped reading the position, I heard
a noise, I raised my eyesight to the windows of the wheelhouse, and
then it hit ... We have strong windows ... An unnaturally great wave
came from the south, not like the rest of the girls from south east,
it hit on the ship's left side and its top hit us square in the
“mouth”. We were not prepared for such a treatment, the door to
salon and wheelhouse was wide open. Accustomed pretty well to the
mood swings of Mother Ocean, when years ago she floated us when we
were looking for happiness on the winter Bering Sea, I concentrated
again on the numbers, but with the executioner’s eye I saw the water
in the inside of yacht and at once I thought about the welcoming
open entry to the salon, it poured in half of ton of water. We lost
the battery charger for the camera and about 20 DVD’s. The computer
and the remainder of companionship was safe. The pumps were working
for a while yet to get rid of the water intruder. I, of course,
closed the valve of the manhole to the salon, I probably won’t open
it again soon. I remembered a similar situation which happened on
Georges Bank at the coast of Rhode Island. I was then a starting
fisherman, we fished for scallops. I was starting my fisherman's
career on an old rusty smack, everyone including the captain was
Portuguese living in New Bedford. Some winter, stormy night, I slept
tired from heavy watch, in my narrow sleeping-berth on the third
floor, right under the inflow of the ventilator, when suddenly I was
hit with a ton of icy water, and the smack turned 35* to the side. I
was certain that we were going to sink... The smack seemed to think
for a moment and in the end it got up lazily, it looked like we will
live longer ... I was all wet along with my sleeping bag and
mattress. I changed into dry clothes, put on a waterproof storm
coat, and almost immediately I returned to the bunk still dribbling
with water, in two hours another shift would begin and the
inexpressible 6 hours of hard work. It turned out that when we were
storming with the wave, pulling the poles in tow, which like great,
metal frames would stick in the bottom and gathered scallops, some
exceptionally great wave went through the back of the slowly sailing
smack and took away with it all antennas and lights, took the glass
from the window-panes, went longways, through the deck, broke the
door to forepeak, and then through the ventilator gap in the floor
hugged me like a cold port trollop ... The smack straightened out,
and although all the antennas, including radar, were gone, the old
Portuguese did end course, we were afloat then for a full 14 days.
DAY 87
Fri Jun 01 00:32:54
2007 UTC - 12 10.85 S - 125 33.25 E
(relation sent late
Thursday night- time difference)
The memory of fresh
fish caused me to take care of new bait. Earlier I found out that
the fashionable colors are red and green. We have many colorful
cables, I cut of a bit and separated the ends. With a metal saw I
cut off a piece of lead, cut a hole through it, put the metal cable
through the hole, then through the ear of a double hook and then I
returned the end of the cable to the hole in the lead, then I
tightened it so that the cable with hook would not fall out .. ..
Now I let my artistic part (from 1-2 class of elementary school)
form a green-red hanging which I secured with a juzing (thin bit of
string) to the lead, so that the colored broom covered the hook with
two blades. The ties did not come out nice, but were strong .. I
made an ear at the other end of the metal cable and I stuck a little
copper tube there. Now with the new calamari-impostor I went to the
stern and to the bit of veinlet saved from the last time, I tied the
thin but strong bit of string and threw the bait to water. After
some time I pulled it all on deck in order to check how our
“calamari” holds. The knots looked lovely, so I put it down again.
When I turned around I heard a calm “bing” .. .. And saw a flying,
empty end of the veinlet .. The next bait has to be decisively less
attractive, maybe just a hook and hope ... (?)
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