Tropical Night Watches

November 5, 2011

this post was written on our passage to Cabo San Lucas

Night watches are a fact of life for passage makers. It is the subject of many forum posts, articles, and dockside conversations.

I have loved every night watch that I have stood, be they starry and clear or foggy and tense. On one hairy night I had my spinnaker wrap around my forestay like a giant hourglass. There was one night (coming into Isla San Miguel) where visibility wss reduced to 1/4 mile or less and I had a white knuckle grip on the dodger for 3 hours. But there have also been countless nights where the stars fill the sky so impossibly full that I feel like a child again, looking at a universe full or wonder and possibilities. I have had nocturnal visitations from unidentified marine mammals, seen my wake lit up by bioluminescence, and seen a dozen breathtaking moonsets.

Tonight though, takes the cake. Tonight I arrived at my post to the most amazing and wonderful treat of all… Warmth! I am sitting in the cockpit in shorts and a tee shirt with alternating warm and cool breezes blowing over me. The warm feels almost like body temperature and the cool is just warm enough not to induce goose bumps. I think that I love the tropics.

6 comments

  1. Comment by sarah

    sarah November 5, 2011 at 6:00 pm

    sounds dreamy.

  2. Comment by Eric FitzMedrud

    Eric FitzMedrud November 5, 2011 at 11:13 pm

    Hooray for the stars. It has been a long time since I’ve seen stars filling the sky like you describe.

  3. Comment by Katja Svendsen

    Katja Svendsen November 10, 2011 at 5:04 pm

    Hello,
    I just wrote but I checked in with you again and saw where you are. Looks like you are either going up the Sea of Cortez or over to the mainland. While Im here in the cold and dark I dream of the tropics and where you all are. How wonderful!! Im so glad I can be a part of your adventure, thank you. Happy sailing, Katja Svendsen (Ranger 33)

  4. Comment by Brian

    Brian November 14, 2011 at 11:54 am

    Its sounds so magical. Its hard to imagine those sensations and a world filled with only the stars and your vessel quietly cutting a bioluminescent path across the dark sea from my cubicle!

    Amy and I are planning on getting our ASA certifications up through bareboat this coming summer. I hope our lives can someday be filled with moments like this. You guys are so lucky!

  5. Comment by Michel Veys

    Michel Veys November 14, 2011 at 7:15 pm

    Hi Tucker and Victoria – great to read your blog and follow you. Looks like you’re enjoying the trip and the great weather in Mexico. Temperatures have come down in the Bay Area, but we had a great sail yesterday on the bay: sunny, clear skies and 14mph winds.
    Post progress. We love to read you.
    All the best and we’ll keep following you.
    Michel & Amy from Dawn Trader in B29 in Emerycove.

    • Comment by Tucker Bradford

      Tucker Bradford November 15, 2011 at 3:38 pm

      Michel & Amy,
      So great to hear from you. Things are indeed awesome here on Convivia. We just arrived in the La Paz area and are enjoying one more day/night of nature before heading into the big city again. Keep in touch, we love hearing news from the Bay Area!

Comments are closed.

Go top