【The Resilient Diary - Day 9】The Night Watch

Written by Michelle on 27 Mar

Hi, it's Michelle/Tong’s blog now.

I’m currently in sleepy May’s watch, which is ‘infamous’ for two-night watches and only one day watch like an owl.

Thanks for Jemma’s idea, I’m going to write something about the night watches - they are in nature not different from the day watches as we need to complete all the sail-related tasks, including sail changes, sail storage, sail clipping, and unclipping, as well as reefing of the mainsail, etc.

No matter how dark, windy, and way it was. The difficult part was that our eyesight was not as clear as it is in the morning so do our brains. We must be cautious by clipping on and holding something tight to help us stand still, trying hard not to be affected by the strong waves.

Apart from the sail tasks, we needed to observe approaching fishing boats, fishing nets, and other objects on the sea to avoid any potential incidents. To stay alert, we sang like an open karaoke, talked about random topics like in a public forum, and kept warm as much as possible.

Since day 6 we were soaked with Japanese seawater under thunderstorms and waves. It could be freaking frozen at night with the decreasing temperature, let alone with the more than 25-knot winds.

The watch from 2 a.m. - 6 a.m. was exceptionally terrible. Imagine you have to wake up in the middle of the night, balance yourself from the tilting sailing boat with leaking water from the ceiling and sudden tacking from our dearest crew members, and keep your eyelid open throughout the night.

It worried me so much last night that one of my watch-mates was so seasick and frozen that she lay down for the whole watch period.

Anyway, the morning arrives as it always does. After 4 hours of rest, the sun finally came after two consecutive stormy and windy nights. I was recharged especially after I accidentally inflated my life jacket two days ago. I hoped my teammate has told a good story about it. Otherwise, you can wait until my return to tell a good one.

We were contacted by an outside voice from a Cantonese fishing boat today. They were concerned about what we were doing in such a wavy sea. Thanks for your care but we were doing great and didn’t need your fish!

Jaimie and I will be on mother watch tomorrow which is also a frustrating part of the boat! It was not a comfortable experience last time.

Special thanks to my mum, my brother, my friends, my teammates, and my colleagues who gave my support to the journey. I am blessed with all the gifts and snacks (almost empty omg)

• Amelia thank you for sacrificing the sleeping time and always taking care of the route

• Rhi, thanks for being supportive and energetic when coming on deck

• Chole, be more confident! And thanks for leading us to Osaka

• Dorothy, thank you for taking care of the watch members even when you suffered from seasick

• May, thanks for being the entertainment leader and being on night watches

• Jaimie, let's put some effort while in mother watch and let's enjoy Osaka

• Sylvia, thank you for composing the songs for leg 1!

• Shan, we love to hear your story and see you smile, let's get some windy rest in Osaka Rainbow micro plants are so cute and thanks for letting us join your experiment

• Zoe, keep warm and let's eat snacks

• April, thank you for helping a lot all the time!!

• Rida, let's learn more German

• Jemma, thanks for chitchatting with me at night!

• Yi, welcome to the team and be confident

Location Update on 27 Mar