LN893 02/03/2016

16:30 day 3

Second day out of port, the island of La Palma has just come to view. This morning was a lot brighter than yesterday as a result a few familiar and almost forgotten faces began to reappear on deck after the seasickness that overtook so much of the crew yesterday. Our foreward starboard watch began at 12:30 not long after the two words that strike fear in  so many of the crew “happy hour”. During our watch our watch leader Jim Haig brought a moment of culture to our time on the bridge by powerfully reciting the following poem by John Masefild and setting us up for our final hours at sea before landing at La Palma

Sea- Fever

“I must down to the seas again, to the lonely sea and the sky,

And all I ask is a tall ship and a star to steer her by,

And the wheel’s kick and the wind’s song and the white sail’s shaking,

And a grey mist on the sea’s face and a grey dawn breaking.

I must down to the seas again, for the call of the running tide

Is a wild call and a clear call that may not be denied;

And all I ask is a windy day with the white clouds flying,

And the flung spray and the blown spume, and the sea-gulls crying.

I must down to the seas again, to the vagrant gypsy life,

To the gull’s way and the whale’s way where the wind’s like a whetted knife;

And all I ask is a merry yarn from a laughing fellow-rover,

And quiet sleep and a sweet dream when the long trick’s over.”