Ying and Yang: the Balance of Darkness and Brilliance

The shifts were adjusted and the new crew were placed on watches for the next leg; Jakarta to Benoa.  I was put with Carol on the 4-8 shift; this shift is in charge of breakfast and dinner, but it has the benefit of being up for sunsets and sunrises!  Yasmina and Satyavan were given overlapping shifts so we would have more hands to help with dinner.  Since I slept through every sunrise on the first leg, I was excited to finally see a Southern Hemisphere sunrise from sea!

The first morning, I saw 3 more shooting stars cut across the Southern Cross.  As twilight broke the darkness, the Milky Way faded out, and we were left with a few constellations, the moon, and Venus glowing bright.  As light filled the sky, we were hit by a squall; not huge waves, but lots of rain.  It also brought favorable winds, strong and in the right direction! We were finally able to turn off our Lugger engine and SAIL!  The day became more peaceful without the constant humming of the engine, but the squalls continued to batter Mir with rocking waves and wind.  After sunrise, in the morning hours, I saw a sea snake swimming on the surface and a few schools of fish jumping out of the water.  The squalls continued into the evening and night, persistently rocking our boat.  Again the sky was very dark with windows in the clouds showing glimpses of the Milky Way and beautiful starry sky.  The water was very rough, tossing us back and forth all night.  Most of the night I could hear the sound of waves crashing into the hull, the howling of the wind, and the pounding of rain on the deck.  I was kept awake by the loud elements of the sea, the forceful motion of the ship, and at one point, my hatch was opened providing me with a night shower directly over my pillow.  At 2 AM I was asked to join the crew on deck, “Im terribly sorry to wake you, but we need your help bringing in the fore sail.  And put on foul weather gear”.  On deck, we had to cling to a safety line to avoid being tossed overboard by the high winds and large crashing waves.  We quickly reefed the sail and were sent back to bed.  Everyone on the morning shift was very tired and moving rather slowly.  We sailed past a cluster of islands, one of which Rick (the man who made ‘the Cove’) was staying and preparing a facility to release 5 dolphins back into the wild.  We were planning on stopping to visit with Rick and swim for the day, but the squalls were unrelenting. We remained under the power of our motor and constantly hit by squalls.  As dusk was again upon us, I was helming in extremely low visibility and swinging steering.  We had less than 20 feet of visibility, the only thing we could make out were the lights of nearby ships; one of which was putting out nets and passed very close to us!  There were huge waves towering over our heads when we were in the troughs and winds toying with our masts.  It was quite fun surfing the enormous waves in a huge ship in complete darkness only able to make out navigation lights on the horizon and whitecaps crashing all around.  I was forced to quickly develop my helming skills based on feeling the presence of the waves and knowing what was coming next, which direction and how many, instead of simply seeing what was out there.  We were isolated by a completely dark sky, not a single star, only able to seek comfort in the few small lights scattered across the horizon.

First Day of March and I saw my first real sunrise at sea aboard Mir!!  It was a picturesque morning, beautiful lighting and coloring across the many clouds.  Schools of fish were again swarming to the surface off our bow.  I pulled the fishing line in and baited it with flying fish that had flown on deck during the night; no luck.  I later realized I hadn’t let enough line out and we were moving too fast.  While I was baiting, I saw another sea snake, a huge one, float by the stern of the ship; Indonesia is supposed to be heavily populated by sea snakes, hopefully I’ll see some while diving.  In the rough seas I navigated towards an oil rig and steered clear of a wreck.  Even off the coast there are many hazards to be aware of, which makes the pitch black nights a bit scary!  We were now away from Java and sailing across the northern coast of Madura.  Next sail south back towards Java and cut across to Bali.  All day long we continued to be bombarded by squall after squall.  Huge winds, waves, and extreme rocking continued into the evening.  Again, the night was very dark, no stars, and very poor visibility.  After dinner as the next shift took watch, the rest of the crew was in their bunks.  We heard the winds pick up, the captain rushing around on deck, and the engine come on.  We all instinctively hurried on deck in our sleepwear and were asked to help reef the fore sail.  We have all developed a sense of urgency after living on alert since the middle of February and now understanding the movement and sounds of the ship.