Night Watch

Spooky. Alone at the helm. Literally in a sea of darkness. It's 4:00 AM. There's a beacon in the far distance. The run is from Milazzo to Cefalu, a 62 nautical mile passage. Speed over ground is 5.4 knots. Position 38 04.892 N, 14 11.139 E. A blip on the radar screen is ahead but your eyes see nothing in the darkness. The constellation Orion is above but you begin to see faces in the stars looking down on you. You change course by 10 degrees but the blip follows you. You have your radar, your course plotter, radio, depth meter, wind speed, compass. Is that a light up ahead? I don't know it's gone now...