S/V Mojombo: On Passage

A passage is when a boat crosses a ocean from one bit of land to the next. A passage is not what you might call exciting when you just sit in a hot stuffy cabin or go on watch to make sure you do not hit any ships or visa versa. Most of the time you just actually sit there looking out at never ending blue of the ocean. However it has its moments!

The Day’s Routine
Is to wake up at seven o’clock, read till eight then go have breakfast.

Nine o’clock go back to my cabin after talking a bit to Dad who is on watch. Read again till ten o’clock which is about when I go watch a movie.

Twelve o’clock go on watch for two hours. While on watch you must keep a constantly looking around the horizon which can mean waiting a couple of minutes for the boat to top a wave before sweeping the horizon for ships. The other thing I must watch is the course which can change if the wind changes. And the last thing I must monitor is the AIS (Automatic Identification System) which picks up a signal that a big ship transmits and tells me where it is.

Two o’clock come off watch and go down to the saloon and read till dinner at five, having completed our three course dinner and no I’m not joking there really is three courses. The first course is a glass of juice which is served while Dad starts to cook dinner, the second course is what ever Dad has made and finally the third course is a bowl of canned fruit each. Dishes most evil task to have existed luckily me and Nina take it in turns to help dad do this horrid task.

Now the lucky me gets to do another half hour of watch for Dad while Mum goes of to bed around six o’clock, now all there is left to do is retire to bed and read for maybe two or three hours.

Chocolate Ration
In Her Majesties Royal Navy the used give out a rum ration and it was a tradition which held for at least a hundred years. So now two hundred years later the good ship Mojombo and her crew harbours a tradition of a daily chocolate ration which consists of three squares of chocolate or in other words one row each.

Nina on watch keeping a very careful look out as you can see.

The nav station on the left you can see our GPS which we use navigate and then just above our computer you can see the AIS receiver.

The wind vane self steering system which steers the boat according to the wind.

Mum having a sleep in-between watches.

Dad having a rest in the saloon while either Nina or my self are on watch.

Nina looking down the companion way to check the AIS and the GPS.

Food
On passage meal-times are a really big, exciting event (even with Dad cooking).

Our gimbling stove. Gimbling means it swings back and forth with the boat so that what ever your trying to cook doesn't end up on the floor.

Dad serving out dinner. You may have noticed that dad does all the cooking on passage where as in harbour mum does all the cooking.

My self serving out fruit for desert which is my job when on passage.

My hobby
My hobby on passage is to design boats which I put much thought into.

Me at work.

The picture seen here is of a 12M boat which is my latest design.

This picture shows the interior of a 20M motor boat I designed.

Sunsets
The sun sets on passage are really just pure magic and if you’re lucky you may see a green flash Mum Nina and myself have all seen a green flash once.