More sailing time...

My circadian rhythm has lost it's mojo and I have lost all track of time. Routine on board runs in four-hour Watches (shifts) and the first meal in 24 hours is at 0800 - which is one person's breakfast, but another's dinner. Typically this might be
steak tartare (raw egg and onions on the side) followed by sausage and beans. The next meal at 1200 is for example a soup, followed by Wiener Schnitzel and finally at 1800 is served something like a cold fish starter and a port/beef main meal. The good
news is that we eat to a seven-day menu, so for sure you can identify the time and the day by the meal.
Everyone works, wakes and sleeps to Watches
0000 - 0400
0400 - 0800
0800 - 1200
1200 - 1600
1600 - 2000
2000 - 0000
Life activities take place around people's two Watches, ie those on 0400 - 0800 watch are also on 1600 - 2000,. Sleeping, eating, laundry, relaxing etc takes place during the other hours. Added to the "time confusion" is because we are sailing from
Central Time to UCT, we have to lose seven hours on the voyage of 21 days. The Master's (Captain) aim is always to have sunrise at 0600, therefore, the decision to push the clock forward (or not) is entirely regulated by how much progress we have made
during the day (how far east we have travelled) and posted in the Mess (dining room) around 1700 for immediate action. This means that sometimes we have three clock changes in three 24 hours and other times there is no clock change for several days.
So with the ship time changing, the Watch time, wildly changeable weather, and not really knowing exactly where I am, it's completely impossible to hang on to an "up at 0700 and bed at 2300" routine, particularly if no-one else is. Yesterday I woke at
1100, ate at 1200, had couple of drinks and card games with one of the off-duty officers, ate again at 1800 watched movies, did laundry and went to bed at 0400. Just now I have woken from a nap (quelling the "quesies" and warming up!) at 2000, time
change one hour has been announced, so it's 2100 and I've missed the meal (it was goulash; so I know it's Monday evening), but rummaged in the fridge for some cheese and fruit. The Officers and Crew are very hospitable; always happy to talk and share
their knowledge and experiences and it's fun to talk to them. So when I've worked out the technicalities of posting this, I'll have a shower, get dressed, probably go up to the Bridge for some company and then maybe have a couple of beers with whomever
is coming of Watch at 0000, before grabbing a few hours sleep. Guess that's what you call Ship Lag!