The After-the-Trip Letter

When we reached Manila we felt as though we were practically home, and the twenty days across the Pacific were the shortest ever, in spite of the extra Wednesday after we crossed the International date line. 

Side note: Twenty short days for pondering big questions. To recap: a super young smart and accomplished race-car driving hottie has asked (more than once) for her hand in marriage.

Unfortunately, we don’t know much about her feelings about all of this because, in her journal, Helen only goes into detail about every single thing except her thoughts about said hottie, so we must ponder as well.

The Day-to-Day Journal

[Present location:] 
Lat. 15° 30' N 
Long. 129° 21" E 
Dist. 297 mi.
Av. Speed 12.54 mph 

Tue. Mar. 1: Seas somewhat less turbulent, tho the Mate got one over his head on the fo'castle head this a.m. Ruth still seasick. James and I did a little Morse this a.m. first time in months.

Side note: Fo’castle is the shippy-ist ship term ever. It is also known as fo’c’s’le, which is vaguely shippy (to a Canadian-American who knows little about things).

[Present location:] 
Lat. 17° 26' N 
Long. 138° 38" E
Dist. 330 mi.
Av. Speed 13.95 mph 

Wed. Mar. 2: Took my first sight since Ceylon. Very busy with knitting, reading, ironing. Had a session with J. on navigation, and later one on Morse.

Side note: Taking a sight has to do with navigation and probably involved the sextant. So let’s look at a picture of Helen with one:

Came from Shag's at 9 and Sam read me the first chapter of his book. On deck to sleep out and found my hammock gone. Captain had borrowed it, since his room is being painted. Stayed out 'till midnight, J. left at 11. Plenty of hills in the sea tonight.

Side note: Though there were salt water peaks and valleys heaving and collapsing around them, they were leaving from a warm place near the equator so pleasant enough for deck sleeping.

[Present location:] 
Lat. 19° 26' N
Long. 139° 45" E
Dist. 315 mi.
Av. Speed 13.31 mph 

Thur. Mar 3: J. woke me at 6 a.m. per instruction. Back to study navigation this a.m — no enthusiasm for work. Knit some. Pouring rain at intervals, very hard after dinner. Morse — Shag. 

Have a dog as cargo, Jim and Alec have monkeys, the rabbit is forlorn.

Side note: Firstly, this schedule and work she frets over is 100% self-imposed.

Secondly, the animals: the rabbit was mentioned near the beginning of the trip as belonging to the ship’s crew (and if it was meant to lure the female civilian passengers to these men, it was doing its job). The histories behind the dog and the monkeys are unknown, but in my version they befriend the sad rabbit, have fun adventures, and live happily ever after.

[Present location:] 
Lat. 21° 07' N 
Long. 145° 23" E
Dist. 330 mi.
Av. Speed 13.97 mph  

Fri. Mar. 4: J woke me at 6 a.m, I turned out to find it was damp and gloomy, went back to bed until 8:30. By that time it had warmed up, sun up brightly, ocean gloriously blue. Sam and I walked, Capt. came along. I broached the subject of a climb up the mast, he didn't say no. 

Went up on the crosstree, our world looked very small. Sam came up. Shag and camera arrived just as I came down. Sam gave me some snaps, he took over 600 study "days work" and the fog begins to lift once more. 

Think now I can get back into the study habit. Took a sight at noon. Dictated numbers for Chief's abstract — 4:00 p.m. — 5:20 p.m. Morse with Jim. Conversation with Shag. Capt. putting up my hammock when I came back. Both feeling restless — I went topside — his room is back to right, looks fresh and nice. Had some Lion Brand. To bed in the hammock but too windy, in at 12:30 a.m.

Side note: I think Lion Brand is tea. And I wish she would spill some of it! Also, since she’s taking sights again, now’s a good time for another sextant picture.

[Present location:] 
Lat. 22° 46' N 
Long. 150° 57" E
Dist. 328 mi. 
Av. Speed 13.88 mph 

Sat. Mar. 5: Sam and I felt the need of exercise. We laid out a hop-scotch on the After Deck and jumped around for half an hour. He and Shag climbed a cable, but I can't hold up my weight on one. 

Finished with a Shandy in Shag's room and it was suddenly 11:30. Studied, knit, read in p.m. Read numbers for chiefs abstract. Morse. Shag. Reading.

Side note: Swirled a shandy at Shag’s… touche.

The Chiefs Abstract is like the boat’s deed.

Here is a picture of part of the deck if you wanted to visualize the hop scotch.

[Present location:] 
Lat. 24° 12' N
Long. 156° 51" E
Dist. 336 mi.
Av. Speed 14.23 mph 

Sun. Mar. 6: J. woke me at 6 but I couldn't struggle up before breakfast. Sam, Shag, Mitchell, Alec, Bill and Spectators had fun with a glorified hop-scotch game. Glorious warm sunny day. Sun bath after lunch. Jim started me on longitude this p.m.

Helped chief finish his abstracts after tea. Morse after dinner. Shag and I listened to music from Germany until 9:15. Came back to find lights out and everyone in bed. Took my book up and read with Capt, until 11:00.

Side note: Google won’t tell me how they were listening to music from Germany. A marine radio? A record player? While trying to find out, I learned that the Nazis had two designations for music: The Reich Chamber of Music (music deemed German enough by Nazis) and Degenerate Music (Jewish and Black musicians). I hope what Shag and Helen were listening to until exactly 9:15 was Degenerate Music.