Sock

Sleep deprivation is a funny thing

- Neville Hockley

Just three nights into our Atlantic crossing, with early days for a three-week passage, our minds and bodies were still adjusting to the challenges of a 24/7 watch routine, only a few hours of sleep a night and the constant movement of Dream Time, our 38-foot Cabo Rico, running wing-to-wing on the high seas after two weeks of rest in Cape Verde.

The sock story begins in the early hours of the morning during my five-hour sunrise shift. My wife, Catherine, was already busy down below after her party shift — the 2000 to 0300 watch — burrowing into a pile of cushions and pillows strategically placed to give her the most comfort and support, and as she puts it, to stop her from “rolling around like a pencil.” We have a lee cloth, but over 13 years and 42,000 nautical miles of world cruising, Catherine prefers her pillow method.