The Fish are Flying - Day 12

I've got my night watch routine pretty well down. I spend the first half an hour usually just waking up, brushing my teeth, checking on the boat's heading and looking around to make sure that all is in order. For the next hour, I drink a thermos full of tea very slowly as I eat a treat (usually something Busby has baked or a cookie) and listen to a podcast (usually Radiolab). For the next hour, I usually respond to emails and write in my diary. The final hour usually consists of another podcast and eating some more food slowly. I have found that it's very hard to fall asleep while eating. This all sounds dandy...but night watch is always a struggle and a bit eerie. It's a struggle to stay awake and find tasks to do that keep you awake. The world is cloaked in red, due to our red lights and sometimes I mistake shadows for other people on our boat or weird noises as people's voices. So...I'm usually just a bit jumpy and on edge during my night watch.

Last night's watch was particularly eventful. I was responding to emails in the cabin, when I started to hear a flapping noise. This flapping sounded different. I immediately put the computer away, sprung to action and looked at the sails from the cabin. Hmmm... they looked ok and weren't flapping. "Flap, flap, flap" again. Where is this coming from? Am I losing it? I started frantically looking in all directions...up, down, port, starboard, for, aft. Then it started to smell REALLY fishy on board. Oh, maybe it's a flying fish that landed on deck. Just as I was putting on my life jacket to go on deck, I saw two beady eyes starring at me from the stove. "AHHHH" I screamed! "Flap flap flap" it replied. Then I heard a calm voice behind me, " Just get a bowl Annie". I didn't realize that the flapping had woken Busby up too. I fumbled around, handed Busby a bowl and he quickly transported the fish back to the ocean. We had a good laugh about the whole thing at 4 am in the morning and were amazed by this flying fish's trajectory. It made it all the way through the cockpit, through the companion way hatch and landed right on the stove. Must have been quite a night for this little guy too.

I still had an hour left of my watch, so I went into the cockpit and listened to a podcast. In the back of my mind I was thinking that I was right in the middle of the flying fish's trajectory. But what are the odds really? And I pushed the thought from my mind. Half hour later I was hit with a projectile from the darkness of the ocean. "AHHHH" I screamed! "Flap flap flap" it responded. Just as I was about to toss the flying fish back into the ocean, it managed to flap it's way to freedom. "Flying fish?" Busby shouted from down below. "Yep" I responded... and we both had another good laugh.