Atlantic gale

Saturday, December 2nd., Lusitania, at sea.

Following gale, overtaking us. I began to construct a one act play for ship use, and this put me off going to sleep last night, and then I was kept awake by rolling and noises connected therewith. hence, bad night. Read a lot of "Sanine". Insincere voluptuous stuff.

Went out at 10.30. High seas. Whole surface of sea white with long marmoreal lines of foam. Through the mistiness the waves on the horizon looked as high as mountains; or high as a distant range of hills. Curious that distant waves should seem so much higher than those close to. Ship rolling enormously and her prow yawing about. yet forward, sheltered by deck houses from following gale, one had no sensation that the boat was moving forward. Walking backward from bow to stern, the following gale struck one sharply in the face, though one was running away from it at about 30 miles an hour. 

Big squall gradually overtook us. All sunshine clouded out for 15 minutes and snow came down almost horizontally, and much faster than the ship in the same direction. The wind blew spray fiercely off the water in clouds. The screws half-raced from time to time.

While waiting in barber's shop, read Jane Addams on "Old Social Evil and New Remedy". 

Also for "Lusitania" see -
http://earnoldbennett.blogspot.co.uk/2013/10/sailing-to-america.html
http://earnoldbennett.blogspot.co.uk/2012/11/sailing-for-home.html
http://earnoldbennett.blogspot.co.uk/2012/10/all-at-sea.html
http://earnoldbennett.blogspot.co.uk/2013/10/exploring-lucy.html

Additionally for December 2nd., see "Being 'in it' or 'out of it' " -
http://earnoldbennett.blogspot.co.uk/2012/12/being-in-it-or-out-of-it.html

I hate, now, having any evenings quite free, with no society. It is on these evenings, although I amuse myself with writing letters and reading, that I feel 'out of it'. And that phrase expresses the whole thing. 'Out of it.' What it is I don't exactly know.