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However
they could never say who it was. And so this figure became known
as "the phantom prodder." The off-watch hours are obviously
very precious and grabbing sleep at any opportunity is a must.
With
4 hours on and 4 hours off during the night, the aim is to get 3
hours of quality sleep. However since leaving Liverpool I have consistently
woken after 1 or 2 hours, with the strong sensation that I should
be on deck.
Sometimes
I am convinced that my watch is on deck without me and sometimes
that I am needed for just a specific job. So convincing is this
feeling, that I have frequently got out of my bunk only to discover
that the boat is sailing quietly on, and I have a couple of hours
of sleep left.
I thought
for a while that I was the only one suffering from this unfortunate
fate and when I mentioned it to my watch they began to look at
me strangely.
Then,
late one night, when we were on watch, I looked down the companionway
to see Jane all dressed up with life jacket and harness, ready to
go. She was looking blearily at the galley clock. As the sleep haze
cleared, the disappointment on her face when she realised that she
was 2 hours early was quite a picture. She turned around without
a word and returned back to her bunk.
Given
that Jane and I hot bunk together we discussed whether our bunk
was
jinxed. Then maybe we thought it could be the lavender oil that
Jane sprays on the bunk... politely she said it was to help her
sleep, although I fear it was a slight hint to get me to wash more
often!
At
last however we discovered we were not alone, last night Frank jumped
out of his bunk and came dashing towards the companionway in the
middle of a quiet mid-night watch, thinking he was being called
for. Confirming, thankfully, that Jane and I are not losing it completely.
At least, not yet.
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