Heading to the south..
Lat; 00 deg 59.503 N Long; 130 deg 39.880 W 0740 local time May 25 2006
I'm sipping my coffee looking at the sunrise. The sky is red, it's very beautiful. There is even some huge cumulus clouds in the sky this early. I remember an old saying "Red sky at night - sailors delight, red sky in the morning - sailors take warning". Well we've had red sky three mornings in a row. So I guess that we've been warned alright. But for what? See that I can't remember. I guess I'm not much of a sailor not knowing the old sayings. Fredrik, the youngster, is still snoozing. With a happy smile on his face. Of course I can't ask him, because then he will know about the red sky and perhaps be worried. Like me. So this must be my secret. The winds is fairly good though, 15 knots. But like yesterday, it comes from the wrong direction namely south, even if it has shown some tendency towards east. We are close-hauled, beating. See I'm trying to learn the American terminology. The other day I wrote in Swedish, which is my native language, and therefore easier. I felt lazy that day. But unfortunately some of our readers are not familiar with the old beautiful Viking language so.. Well we're close-hauled, beating (beating who?) and Maiken jumps from wave to wave. I tried "head off" (falla av) with the only consequence that Maiken started heeling (kr�nga) more. As you can see I've learn some. But sailors terminology is funny. Head on a boat doesn't exactly mean what you would expect. There's a sign on the boat pleading "please do not put anything into the head unless you have eaten it first". It takes no more than average imagination to figure that out. But seriously, who got this meaning of the word into his head in the first place? Fredrik is showing sign of waking up now from his deep sleep so it's time for breakfast. Isn't there a sailors term for eating as well? Don't turn off the computer, well be back soon.
Take care out there!
H�kan
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posted by Fredrik at 9:49 AM
1 Comments:
Hej, Håkan!
Today I can understand all that you have written. Thanks!
In return, I will answer a question. Why do sailors call the toilet the "Head."
In the old days, in sailing ships, the toilet was located in the most forward part of the ship, right next to the bowsprit. This is the head of the ship. The toilet was just a board with a hole in it that was right over the sea.
If I sailor said, "I'm going to the head (of the ship)"; it usually meant that he was going up there to use the toilet. Now, even though the toilet is located in the main cabin in it's own cozy little room, we still say that we are going to the head.
I hope that the wind backs to the SE soon.
Best regards to you and young Fredrick!
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