Race 7 - Day 2
Crew Diary - Lights
25 February

Well, here we are again, looking for wind in a world seemingly full of wind-holes.

We’re getting to know this particular piece of coast quite well, having sailed along it on our way into Subic Bay.

The coast line is obvious during the day when in sight, but at night, quite a different kettle of fish! Most of the inhabited hilly bits on land are flood-lit up in the distance but millions of other lights illuminate the otherwise black sea. Lots of little fishing boats emerge at night and have a variety of ways to advise us of their presence. Sometimes the larger boats bear standard white lights and red/green bow/starboard lights indicating their location and even which way they are facing, but we have also seen a range of non-traditional lights such as blue lights, not flashing, just blue. Then there are the stealthy fishermen who prefer to surprise us by lurking in the darkness until they are quite close then bombard us with unbelievably bright halogen-type white lights which they shine straight at us, temporarily blinding everyone on deck, then just as our eyes have recovered, they go in for a second bombardment, just for fun!

In a similar vain, some crew manage to have the same effect with headlamps. The standard policy is to only use red lights at night for navigating around the deck and down below. This enables everyone to continue to use their night vision in dark skies. Occasionally, crew members accidentally press the wrong button on their head lamp with the result that they wander around dazzling everyone with their bright white lights, or worse, flashing white lights! They are usually politely asked to refrain from this. If a second offence occurs a more direct request and a third offence… well, you just wouldn’t dare!