night watch

So I'm on deck for my night watch, life jacket on, life line attached, looking around for something interesting ... and there's nothing ... exactly and approximately .... nothing! No moon, no stars, just darkness ... a faint horizon line in the distance ... but really nothing!

I turn my attention to my "Leaning Italian" audiobook, my chosen self-improvement item for the voyage. Possesive pronouns. It's my cat. Is it your dog? No, it's our dog. The cat is his. Are these your sheets? Huh? What on earth is the contextual link between cats, dogs and - sheets? I don't get it! I'm sure it must make sense from a linguistic point of view ... but it seems strange to me!

Next I wonder what I will write in my next blog - other than the wind is still on the nose, and looks like being there for another painful day or so before releasing off behind us. What else do I have to say? And then it comes to me. In the middle of this "nothingness" come sparks of blue-white light, literally washing down the deck towards me. I look over the side and see the most astonishing phosphoresence in our wake. Brighter than fireflies. Millions of little dots of brilliance sparkling in the water. Amazing.

We (the crew) don't appear to know for certain what causes this phenomenon - so hopefully one of you will be able to tell us from wikipedia!