End of day

I have survived my first whole day at the wheel. Yea!!!  And what a lovely sunset.

Quiet afternoon

 Andy took another catnap and I continued to watch over the wheel.  So far I have motored down most of the Jersey coast today.  Still have to get past Chincoteague and the ponies.  Since the military have been out of sight, nothing exciting has occurred. No more passing ships, no dolphins, no floating junk, no traps, no nothing.  I think that is good today.

Visitors

So today was my first time alone at the wheel. I was doing fine and everyone went to sleep. That was when a ship peeked up over the horizon. I could tell it was  big one. I figured it was another freighter. I watched it on the radar for a an hour or two as it got closer and closer. It was running parallel to us about five miles east and going north. Then it made a ninety degree turn facing me. And then it stopped. I wasn't sure if it saw us and was waiting for us to pass, or if it didn't see us and was going to head in to the docks, or if it did see us and was waiting for the right moment to move forward to ram us. For about thirty minutes, it didn't seem to move. We stayed the same distance apart for a really long time even though we are motoring ahead at eight plus knots. When he turned into the shore, he put himself right in our path. No more forward movement; it was just poised to attack..  I changed course ten degrees away so that we would not be so close. That is when it changed appearance from a freighter to a military vessel.  That is when I really got nervous. I didn't want to get in the way of the Navy. We are vaguely close to Norfolk and so who knows why it was there. I didn't really want to know. It just sat there. And sat there. And sat there.  Finally, I wanted to be sure it was not just waiting to ram us so I woke Andy. Poor guy has had almost no sleep so far on this trip.  He said I had done the right thing. As it is military, I was a bit daunted.  Who knew that we would find ourselves right in the middle of war games?  It looked like some sort of carrier ship although the towers were in the center. A helicopter kept flying in and making circles but never landing.  Finally, it turned again to the south and remained in place.  A hour later, a harrier took off from the carrier.  We were even with them now and so I began to correct the course adjustment I had made earlier. That is when the helicopter flew over us. Were we in trouble?  Sometimes I think it was wearing a cloak of invisibility as the helicopter was not always visible. I am positive that it did not land on the carrier but I could not always follow it. It just wasn't there and then it would reappear a minute later somewhere else.  Then the carrier started to move away and all the excitement faded away.

The Jessica Mae

Aug 19, 2013, 11:30

We finally get to take a boat out. We are moving a 42 foot fishing boat from NYC to Fort Lauderdale    It will put in for a few days for repairs and then we will take it to San Francisco through the Panama Canal. It is my first time on a commercial fishing vessel.  I remember when I was I college that lots of the guys went to Alaska to work these boats in the summer.  Made a lot of money then. I think it still does. Very cramped quarters. I think you have to be short to be a Fisherman.  The steps leading down to the sleeping berths are flush with the wall. There is an eighteen by twelve inch hole to drop through.  The hardest part is bending  my leg to get out of one step and into the next one. I will certainly have bruises from  this trip. The berths are small but that is ok. Not much different from Red Cross cots. But there is so little air inside and the upper bunk is maybe twenty four inches from my head. Claustrophobic. And there are no sheets blankets towels or creature comforts.