Morning Maneuvers (Our First Journey, part4)布島之風雲再起4──完美的一天

[continued from "A Hard Day's Night (Our First Journey Part 3)"]

The sign on our second mooring buoy gave us little confidence: “Some mooring buoys may have moved. Please be aware of the water's depth.” In fact, this was the only buoy we found with this sign. What it should say is: “This buoy has dragged closer to shore. Once the tide goes down, you are quite likely to go aground.”

Sitting too close to the shore for comfort, we didn't wait to find out how low we might go. The tide high, we got our night's sleep, but moved the boat to our next home first thing in the morning.

And then finally, the trip took a turn for the better. With only a zephyr of wind to work with, we decided we were in no hurry at all. We decided not to use the engine at all.

We took our time, getting a feel for the barest hint of a breeze which sometimes made it to our boat. We watched the bay carefully to see how the island made a wind shadow and to learn how far out we would need to go to meet a steady breeze.

Under a clear blue sky we waited for a puff strong enough to put Syzygy in motion and then loosed our mooring line. Careful sailing and patience gave us just enough way to make it into the bay's light breeze. With the steadiness of the breeze we gained the momentum needed to sail back into the island's wind shadow and silently glide up to our next mooring buoy. In fact, despite the lightness of the wind, we came in so quickly we missed it the first time.

Secure on our new buoy, convinced of our boat's safety, we rowed the dinghy ashore a for midday walk around the island. Finally, the cruising life that magazine pictures are made of. Sun and water, sea lions and eagles. Nature at her most beautiful, and us moving her, riding on even her gentlest of breezes. We were starting to enjoy ourselves. After a satisfying day we returned to the boat for dinner and settled in for a good night's sleep.

It should come as no surprise by now that we had no such thing.

[continued]

翻譯

（接上文「首夜」 ）
緊接著找到的第二個繫泊浮標上的警語也無法增強我們的信心：「繫泊浮標可能漂移，請注意水深。」事實上，這是我們唯一發現有貼上警語的浮標。警語基本上的意思是：此浮標已經漂移靠岸較近。一旦潮水消退，你會發現自己停在岸邊！

長夜漫漫，我們先將就此浮標停靠補眠。潮水正高，我們安然入睡，但第二天一早，第一件事便是再度開船尋找安全停泊處。

終究，撥得雲開見月明。清晨微風拂來。既然我們沒在趕路，我們決定不開啟引擎。

我們不急不徐的感受、尋找著絲絲微風的來向。我們仔細觀察著風因布島地形改變而在海灣水面吹出深淺的陰影，以決定該往那個方向追風。

在湛藍的晴空下，我們等待適切的陣風給予Syzygy足夠前進的動力，然後鬆掉與浮標連結的繩索。清風下，我們的細心與耐心使船緩緩前進。足夠的動力讓我們得以再度駛進無風區，悄悄的再度停靠。事實上，儘管風力如此微弱，我們的船居然快速到錯失第一次停靠機會。

在與我們新的繫泊浮標連結，確認我們的安全之後，我們划著小船上岸，在島上漫步。終於，我們感受到航海雜誌圖片上應有的航行生活：陽光、海水，海獅穿梭、老鷹飛翔。大自然展露她的美麗，我們行駛在它最溫和的微風中，開始真正享受旅程。在愉快的一天之後，我們回到船上享用晚餐，準備一夜好眠。

閱讀至此，你大概已經可以猜到我們不會如此好運。

（待續）