12:30 PM local time Wednesday. 31 36 N 123 46 W. Temp. 67, Humidity
76%, cloud cover 100%. Seas WNW 1.5 meters. Wind S 3k.
In our informal world, we often speak metaphorically, do we not, as we
might say, for example, "Play 'Cheeseburgers in Paradise' one more time,
and there will be vomiting."
The reader is sophisticated enough to realize that having heard the
above, it is not necessary to ring the triage nurse at the local
hospital to arrange for care, nor run to the medicine cabinet for an
antiemetic. The speaker is but having a little fun with language. A more
appropriate response than medical care would be to change the music to
something which obeys the letter, if not the spirit of the plea--
something which is not Jimmy Buffet, yet is equally repellent.
Admittedly, the research required to achieve this end would be
prodigious, and beyond the means of all but the most resourceful
sadists.
On shipboard, however, predictions about bodily effluents need to be
given sober consideration before being dismissed as metaphorical. When
for example, above the rustle of the waves and rush of the wind rings
the cry, "Verily, Captain, I am going to hurl," the prudent mariner will
place himself at a generous remove and to windward of the afflicted,
having made the seamanlike inference that no attempt at poesy is
intended. And so it goes with other conversation in the environment in
which "lowering the boom" on someone will produce a result more life
threatening than a flushed countenance.
On Saturday night last, when the crew of Maverick had made its way into
the great Pacific, strait talk was called for. Soon after sunset,
demonstrating the leadership which is both the privilege and the burden
of his rank, the Captain tossed his cookies. Officer of the Deck Terry
Shrode, than whom a man more willing to take up the task at hand would
be difficult to find, soon came forward with a suitable hearty offering
of his own. The Captain, in a fit of paranoia, perhaps, immediately saw
a budding challenge to his authority, and rebutted with alacrity. To
this, Mr. Shrode had a ready answer. And so it went on through the
night, each man unwilling to yield. Come morning, however, the Captain
was ready to concede the match, which he had convinced himself was
inconsequential, to the challenger. But Mr. Shrode was not done with
him. He was simultaneously hungry and queasy, not sure which was the
cause of which. So each time he felt unease, he would eat; with
predictable results. By this stratagem, he was able to thoroughly put to
rest any doubts about his mastery of this area, and the contest was
settled.
On Monday we had light and variable winds, then Tuesday and Wednesday
gave us light wind from the south, so we've been tacking on the shifts
and earning every inch. The latest fax shows the high southeast of us
which would explain the southerly wind; and it predicts it will move to
the west and below us in the next 24 hours. If this happens, we can
expect favorable winds within the next day. According to the pilot chart
there's a high percentage of northerly winds in this quadrant this time
of year, which went into our planning, so we'd like to see some. Three
days of very slow progress has had little effect on our spirits,
however, which remain high.
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