I used to fear night watches. The dark sky and water seemed threatening to me. But I’m glad to say that I’ve adjusted. I actually look forward to my night watches.
For several days I listened to audiobooks, with absolutely no distraction. When I finished all the books that I had downloaded, I then switched to music. I play heartrending tunes, old blues and samples from the movie, The Piano.
During night watches, I sit behind the wheel. I need to check the chart plotter or the compass to be sure we’re still going on our designated course. The chart plotter also displays if any boats are nearby—don’t want to crash into a ship! We have the radio set to channel 16, but it mostly works with line of sight so for most it remains silent. Every 10 minutes or so, I look up and around. Since it’s night and there’s no light pollution, all I can see is the white water produced by Sirius crashing through the waves.
Last night there was a crescent moon which lit a trail of light on the black water. It didn’t stay up that long, however. The stars were spectacular. I can clearly see the Milky Way. There are so many constellations, I think about how the cavemen would have made up tales about the stars, how awed they would have been to see the black velvet sky studded with glittering gems. When I look at the Milky Way, it actually looks cloudy or gauzy. It’s so hard to believe that that effect is produced by millions of stars!
I was staring at the sky, taking in its beauty when I saw a meteor. It was red and white. At first, I thought someone had set off a flare gun. But its trajectory was all wrong. It was a meteor. A while later, I saw another one. This one was totally white. I think I saw a few airplanes, given their green and red lights. I used to think that the stars, moons and planets were all white, just their brilliance distinguishing them. But there are colors there, too--blue, yellow, red and green. Once I thought I saw a satellite. Not sure about that one.
Yes, night watches are special.