How do you stay awake from 10pm-2am during your first night watch? Coffee from the French press, 10,000 songs from iTunes and lots of conversation. Jeff and I stayed awake for the late shift last night to make sure the Alguita didn’t hit any oncoming boats, that the wind hadn’t changed directions and that the motors didn’t malfunction.
We talked about everything imaginable-what it’s like working for Captain Moore, how Jeff ended up on a ship in the middle of the Pacific Ocean and why he thinks cleaning up the garbage patch is impossible (more on this later).
The four hours passed slowly and I had a minor bout of anxiety when I looked down at my phone and saw the words “no service.” No phone calls, no email, no Twitter for nearly a month. Though I will, because of behind the scenes assistance from Spot.Us, be able to blog.
While I was lamenting the virtual death of my cell phone Jeff tapped my shoulder and pointed through the front window to a masked booby that landed on the front of the ship’s railing. He stayed there all night and into the morning catching a ride to calmer seas.
During this time we rounded Oahu from the west and traveled north past Kauai. The ship’s computer showed us as a tiny chartreuse speck sailing through the Hawaiian Islands.
There was more action in the morning after our shift ended when Captain Moore showed me a flying fish that landed on board. He was blue-gray and his eyes were sunk in-they’d probably dried out before we found him.
While I was snapping photos of the flying fish I looked over at the dangling cluster of bananas on the stern, all 85 of them. We’d bought them green to last the entire trip but much to our dismay they’ve all ripened.
Bonnie has vowed to make banana bread during her 2am-6am shift with Gwen. I just don’t have the heart to tell her that it only calls for two bananas.
