Oh Neptune

We are champagne sailing now. On a close reach with breezes in the mid-teens and a tiny swell. Cheers baby-cakes. Cheers to the dolphins and the clouds and the sun and the salt and the sharks. Cheers to all the other sailors somewhere at sea. Cheers to the lighthouse keepers who keep the sailors off the reef and the rocks. Cheers to all our misfortunes that inevitably led to our salvation, though we could not have known it at the time.

I would loose my head if I was a lighthouse keeper. Wouldn’t you? I think you gotta be more salty to be a lighthouse keeper than a sailor. And I think the way that salt seeps into everything, forever dampens it. Including minds.

The best lighthouse I went to was on the coast of Uruguay. It’s at a fishing village that was started by a bunch of shipwrecked sailors. They built their houses into the sand dunes out of their broken boats. Roads don’t go there. Only sand. For a long time you had to walk or ride a horse in and out. Sweet water falls out of the earth not too far from that coast.

The wind blows so hard there that feet float above the ground and everyone’s hair is always tangled and words get lost as soon as they leave mouths.

There are some rocky islands scattered off the coast. Seals sit all over them and scream like women. Maybe inside those seals is the soul of the shipwrecked sailor’s wives.

Looking at the water from the lighthouse I could see how hard it would be to navigate around it. I could see how easy it would be to collide with a pile of rocks. I could see why someone who crashed there would turn their boats into a house, instead of mending their boat. Crashing there would be enough to make you wanna walk away from the sea for forever. Being there is like being in the middle of the ocean anyway. There’s a similar desolation.

Navigation is a tricky thing. I wanted to navigate to French Polynesia using only the sun and stars. But I’m not. Hopefully I will have enough time to study celestial navigation before my next voyage.

I love that idea. Sailing with the sky. But if I look up too much, will I run into a rock?

Last night, just after 8 pm, Josh saw a comet or a shooting star or a fireball meteor. We don’t really know but it flew far and lit up the night. It ended with a green explosion. He said it was better than fireworks. I wish I would’ve seen that show.

Tomorrow is my birthday. The guys asked what I wanted for my birthday and I said, “I want to see a shooting star and have a dance contest.”

Don’t worry about how young I’m getting. I’m still a long ways away from diapers and mushy food.

Night watches are my favorite. All you do is observe at everything that surrounds you and keep your ship sailing in the right direction. I’m always looking for shooting stars. Maybe I’m looking too hard?

Last night at 3 am I did see Venus rise. At least I think it was Venus. She was just East Of the moon. She was low to the horizon and more orange than anything else in the sky. At first I mistook her for another ship. Sava was still awake so I had him take a look. He said it was a UFO. Then he said it would be fun if we all got abducted. But I don’t know. I mean, I would like to sail a starship into another galaxy. I would like to sail in light years instead of knots. I would like to pop by Gliese 436 b near the constellation of Leo and see her burning ice. But when I do all that, I don’t want to be in the palms of aliens, I want to be the one at the helm.

We are in the ITCZ now. Which sounds spacey. After reading the latest report from our weather router, I have decided to sail through the ITCZ at an easterly angle. It means we will be in the land of The White Cloud Carriers (squalls) for longer, but it will give us a more favorable heading in the trade winds of the Southern Hemisphere.

We have been planning a ceremony for Neptune once we make it to the equator. And we have written a little ditty that Josh will play on the ukulele. This is what we have written so far:

Oh Neptune
Oh Neptune
Ruler of the deep
Oh Neptune
Oh Neptune
Into your waters we creep
Oh Neptune
Oh Neptune
Please don’t make us weep

We three pirates make a good team.
Keep us floating on your sea of dream

Oh Neptune
Oh Neptune
Ruler of the deep

Our vessels name is Juniper
Don’t let your storm winds make her stir

Oh Neptune
Oh Neptune
Into your waters we creep

Give us fair winds and a following sea
This is all we ask of thee

Oh Neptune
Oh Neptune
Please don’t make us weep

We offer you bread, butter and beer
Our three favorite things to have a good cheer

Oh Neptune
Oh Neptune
Ruler of the deep

Sadly among us there are virgins none
In the future we promise to bring you the blood of one

Oh Neptune
Oh Neptune
Oh Neptune

*None of us are songwriters but we did the best we could. If anybody wants to add to our Neptune song, please send us your ideas in the comments. My mom sends me what you write daily and we love reading them.