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On 22 Sep 2004 17:30:49 -0700, (..be..) wrote:

more because of gales and other bad weather than anything else i've
just completed a four week new zealand to norfolk island solo voyage
and was wondering if other folk who have spent a similar period of
time alone at sea find the ropes talking to them after a couple of
weeks. it got to the point that i actually dreaded the sun rising,
because everything that was talking to me during the night, stopped
with the coming of daylight. perhaps its a survival mechanism?

You're in good company. Wasn't it Joshua Slocum who had a "spectral
pilot" in the Southern Ocean?

Next time, bring a wind-up shortwave radio. Hearing other people's
voices will lessen the need of your brain to manufacture some of its
own.

Also, get in the habit of RELIGIOUSLY keeping a log AND a separate
diary of "thoughts and reflections". Even if you don't think you have
many thoughts worth recording, the mental effort involved will help
keep the ghosties quiet.

Lastly, consider that just maybe extreme fatigue from heavy weather
solo sailing was a large part of "whispers in the rigging".

Well done, anyway. I plan to sail that part of the world someday, and
you confirm what I already suspected: it can be bloody rough!

R.