Okay, so night #3 was unpleasant but no additional broken boat bits to report so will call that a win. Apparently I should not have boasted about a dry helm and silent engines in my last post. I actually had to pull out my foul weather jacket which I haven't used on the boat since possibly the Atlantic crossing?!?! The volume of rain we saw through one squall after another I am convinced rivaled how much rain we experienced during a tropical storm in Grenada. But like all good sailing stories, it can't be substantiated.
In addition to the rain, there were two highlights to my evening. As I sat at a now very wet helm seat surrounded by complete darkness with the only light on offer from distant lightning that surrounded us and the annoying hum of an engine, suddenly this supernatural glow caught my eye off our starboard (right) side. Once my eyes had a chance to adjust, I witnessed the most spectacular bioluminescence drifting past us. I can't adequately describe the large, greenish orbs that swirled and intersected with each other. I aimed my flashlight on the water to see what was causing the dancing lights but this offered no answers. Jellyfish?? A school of fish?? I have no other suggestions but it was a beautiful sight and a welcome distraction to my drenched self-pity.
On this high, I turned back towards the front of the boat when something else appeared in my periphery to the left. I quickly realized I was sharing the helm seat with a most unwelcome guest. Slowly darting towards my leg was a HUGE cockroach. Yup. A big, ugly cockroach with antennas that rivaled the size of its body. Feeling trapped in my seat and paralyzed with fear, I managed to flick it away with my jacket sleeve. With this momentary reprieve I was able to scramble down the helm station into the cockpit. I quickly caught sight of it again, where it was now exploring the seat back cushion of the helm seat. Of course I did what was only logical....I started screaming. I felt like I screamed for a long time before Ella came up to investigate. She aided me by preparing me with bug spray and a shoe. I stood there glaring menacingly at the beast hoping it would recognize it needed to find a new ride but it remained undeterred. I was left with only with one possible option, I had Ella wake up her dad. Despite Darryl's equal dislike for these nasty bugs, he is more of a problem solver than me and managed to bravely go into battle with the beast and conquer. With the roach now crushed and drifting away at sea, other than a bruised ego, all was well on board again.
On a side note, this morning I told Iris about the battle with the bug and she calmly says to me..."oh, that is what you were screaming about"?! Seriously kid??? No investigating to see whether your dear mother needs assistance, she clearly just managed to get herself back to sleep.
Now that I have demonstrated to all my lack of resilience I will end this post here. All is well on board. The engine did eventually get turned off and we are enjoying an easy sail at the moment with only one squall hitting us so far today. We will see what night #4 has on offer...
No comments:
Post a Comment