Last Night Watch

By Scott Dodgson

I washed my face in the galley while the kettle came to a boil. For long night time watches I made a strong espresso usually a triple and added Bailey's Irish Cream. This brew kept me up all night while calming the jitters from the coffee. I grabbed two apples and a bag of Star Burst candies and stuffed them into my pockets. As always, I checked the chart and the chart plotter. We would be in Rhodes and at the end of the crossing from Trinidad in nine hours. I entered my position, weather, and crew names into the log book. I also made notes on my state of being. “Tired, pleased, but in general good spirits”. Laura saw me moving around in the galley and came to talk to me. She told me Beth was on deck. She was a little emotional so I should be cautious when talking with her. What I saw and heard was Laura was emotional. She promised we would talk after we got into Rhodes. She went to our cabin to sleep. “Wake me up if you get tired.” On deck I found Beth sitting next to the helm wrapped in a blanket. In general sailing at night is much colder than you would realize even in the tropics. So having a nice blanket wrapped around you makes the watch comfortable. It also serves as a wake up when you get a little sleepy. Toss it off and the cold air will wake you up. First, I checked the tow line. Sometimes the towline will chaff at an alarming rate. It’s no fun turning around to find your dinghy bobbing in the ocean at night. I made a two degree correction on the autohelm. I trimmed the main, eased a touch on the mizzen, opened the staysail a mite and closed the Genoa a turn. With the wind slightly abaft of beam I slightly closed the slots. This tweaking took into account the cool and heavier air would stream off the foot of the sail rather than spilling off the clew. I could hear the autohelm making fewer corrections. The boat held it’s course with less effort and more speed. Beth watched me move around the deck. When I settled next to her in the cockpit I offered her an apple. She accepted with a smile. We sat in silence for a while until I leaped up at the sight of a school of dolphins racing along side. We had entered a massive plume of plankton. The visual effect is stunning. The dolphins looked like they were speeding through the stars. The green glow outlined the hull and created a long green trail in the wake. And just as I convinced Beth to come and stand on the bow sprit and enjoy the spectacle the full moon began peaking over the horizon like a beacon of bright yellow light. It was so bright I went back to the cockpit to check the radar to assure myself it wasn’t a ship. It was that bright. I called Laura. She looked around and was happy to join Beth and myself on the bow sprit. As the full moon rose a few degrees above horizon and we passed through the last of the plankton plume, I asked both of them what is wrong? The three of us sat the rest of the night and talked. What I learned? Laura was planning to leave me after the summer charter season. Beth wanted to stay and work with us, however Beth in her quest to rediscover a comfortable place in her sexuality had seduced Laura, who was experimental at best, but in this circumstance was uncomfortable with their relationship and Beth was seriously regretting her behavior. Both suffered from guilt over their actions. I tried to reassure both. I told them to look around. Look at the beauty of dolphins swimming through the stars. I told them there was something you both wanted and maybe needed in their liaison. Don’t feel guilty I urged, life is long and complicated, the best you can do is move forward and look to the next day. By then the sky turned grey with morning light. The green mountains of Rhodes Greece lay on our starboard beam. The three of us huddled together under the blanket watching a new day dawn.