It made me laugh, thinking of a bored sailor, nearly falling asleep...head jerking forward, lolling back and forth, grimly trying to stay awake...
Looking at flat, featureless sand. Flat. Sand. So hard to stay awake. Starting to dream while awake...sand...the desert...what is he seeing...ahhhh...GAHHHHH! A SKULL!!!!! DEATH!!!!
Yep, you described it perfectly. 🙂