The Beacon
Starry Skies
May 30, 2006
The day began very early. Although I am exempt from watch, I accompanied the captain on the first two hours from midnight to 2:00 a.m. Our anchorage in Cala Galera, protected from the northwest by the Artgentario Promontory, meant that it was wise to have a watch. The wind was blowing at force seven from that direction only a few hours ago.
The night was dark but superb. At the zenith, the constellation of the Great Bear could be seen and across it Cassiopeia. An infinity of stars, a weak but waxing moon, which immediately hid herself away, and one or two shooting stars completed the vision of the universe above our heads.
The sound of the waves breaking on the nearby beach accompanied our conversation on matters that are proper to those early hours, confidences among friends.
An Early Dawn in Saint Margarita's Bay
May 18, 2006
The first lights arrived at about five thirty in the morning and I got up at six fifteen to make the coffee and the breakfast for the crew: cereals, cheese, jam and bread together with fruit juice was what I had planned. Little by little the crew got down to their normal jobs and at eight o'clock the operations of the day had begun. The sun has crowned the mountains from the east, while the wind from the land has given way to a slight sea breeze making the Ranger swing around the anchor, changing its position. Now it is looking out to sea.
While I start my daily ablutions, I think of this last phase of my life, which like the wind in the Mediterranean, changes without it being possible to fully understand the reasons for the chance that governs us. My roots are in a small village on the Basque coast, Mundaka. My ancestors, sailors in all the seas of the world over the last few centuries. Now, joining this enthusiastic and generous crew of Oceana, after having put an end to my professional career connected with engineering and the world of insurance, I return to remember my seagoing origins. Without a doubt there is something of a privilege in all of this.
