Yesterday’s (Aug. 3) readings of the Amistad African’s biographies went well, but they were all short and focused on a few topics: physical traits, how long each person had traveled in Africa before arriving at their point of departure, what kinds of animal life and physical geography were near them, and how many relatives they had left behind. 

It was surprising for me to realize that not all the captives were Mendi, and that so many of them had left not only parents but wives and children behind as well.  I didn’t know that there was a father/son pair among the captives, or that there were multiple members from the same village, or that many of the captives were either sold to pay off debts or literally snatched off the road on the way to another town.
I led last night’s watch, and this time the captain and Paul made me stand on the quarterdeck and not touch any lines when we had to gybe and trim the sails.  I usually tend to want to get involved in whatever sail handling is going on, but the idea with leading the watch is that you see the “big picture” and not just the one line you’re working on, so I had to stand back and get other people to handle all the lines.  I found it frustrating not to be able to physically help with the process.  The evening wrapped up with some pirate stories from Paul and Tim, and after watch I took a fresh water shower, trying not to crash into the walls too much as the boat rolled back and forth from going in a direction less in agreement with the waves than usual.  We’re currently motor-sailing and making about 8 knots headed for England —at this rate it will take us two or three days to get there. 

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