Wrapped up ready for watch duty
Tide behind us, but wind in front, tossing showers of salty water over us as we stand at the mast scanning the sea for any signs of marine mammals (and the buoys that act as creel markers - creels are lobster/crab/prawn pots).
We are 6 volunteers on a 3 hour rota. Half hour per session.
First session on starboard side of mast, scanning starboard front quarter. Second session on port side doing same. Third and fourth half hour sessions, time off to recuperate or sunbathe 😂
Fifth half hour session, on relay and bird/boat watch sitting by door relaying sightings from whale watchers and noting all seabirds & boats. Sixth half hour session down in science station logging weather/sea state and acoustic (we’re trawling a 100m hydrophone) information onto computer every 15 minutes and any sightings received from relay.
There are 4 crew. The skipper, Emma, First mate, Brian, Science officer, Becky and science/ship hand, Chris. Brian & Chris do breakfasts (two breakfasts 8am and 11am) & lunch, we do clear ups, boat cleaning and dinners. We’re not directly involved in the sailing, however we can do so during our ‘break’ if we like. I did some helming yesterday and Emma commented how good I was, must have been the excellent training on eXXpedition. We have sails up for stability, but using engine for power.
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