Starry Skies - Oceana USA
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June 15, 2006

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.

Early in the morning, the Oceana Ranger set off for Formica di Burano, where the filming team dived for forty-five minutes.

The barometer has been rising since yesterday, when it reached 1001 millibars. Today at 3:30 p.m., it stood at 1007, which was too fast a rise. There was a rainbow in a cloud, which looked like cirrus. There are little droplets of water in suspension up there and the sun does the rest.

We ate and relaxed and set sail on course 255 for Formiche di Grosseto for an evening dive. On the way, we were visited by a heavy shower; the weather was sunny and bright all morning. In general, the meteorology is in our favour.

With the divers back on board, after the second immersion of the day, we started for the open sea off the coast of Italy. The idea is to document fishing using prohibited drift nets that are used where the depth finder shows over a thousand metres.

We shall spend tonight at sea.