Today, we are waiting for the world to jibe.
There is something odd about sailing, specifically in the dark. I could only compare it to leaving your house and only looking at Google Maps to get to work. Nothing else. Think about that. You decide when to turn, but only looking at maps - how far to go straight - just referencing maps. How uneasy would you feel?
There are no street corners or stop signs out here, so you are without any context at all.
We have an odd situation. The device you really rely on is called a multifunctional display (mfd). For some reason, the one at the top helm is slightly different from the lower helm, so our Google maps are somewhat different. This is not a good feeling.
Further, as I am on the 2-5 watch, it is dark. Not like the city’s dark, but dark. We are supposed to have begun on a new moon (side note: That process needs a new set of names), and the waxing crescent is the current moon phase. But that is a lie. There is zero waxing. There are zero crescents.
And to close up a hotly debated topic, based on the above content of steering by the map, yes, the island is moving. It is actually drifting based on the shifting of magnetic North. As explained by Google, due to the dynamic nature of the earth’s interior, the magnetic field is constantly changing. This causes the “drift” of magnetic north.
To give you context. Suppose you pull out a nautical sailing map. These maps are more challenging to find nowadays, but it would prob be 15 years old or so. Not much changes out here. And you used that map to set a course to the island (think about my Google Maps analogy above)
You would miss the island by well over 100kn. You would blow right by it and never even see it on the horizon. You would think the island has moved. Looking at the variation since the last map I can find of this area, you would need to adjust your course by over 14 degrees. So. Is the island moving? It sure is. .14 degrees a year. Take that!!
On a final note, we also passed the well-renowned Angola Basin today. It is basically the Bermuda Triangle of the south—without the branding.
Note to the reader: I will not address the fishing situation in an attempt to keep this post positive.
