An Equator Crossing for the History Books!

Hear ye hear ye! By royal decree of the honourable court of the supreme ruler of the high seas, his holy infiniteness, Neptune, we do hereby announce the induction of nine new members into the society of shellbacks! The crew of the good ship NORDIC FALKEN valiantly underwent the harrowing and life-altering ceremony of initiation to officially transform from lowly pollywogs to hardy shellbacks! HUZZAH! 

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We had the MOST wonderful equator ceremony yesterday, oh my goodness. Picking off from where the last blog left off, we had an absolutely gods-blessed (Thanks big Nep) afternoon of SAILING. Yes you read that right. Sailing through the doldrums. We’re just that good at this. We killed the engine at 1500 yesterday afternoon and managed to milk about 6kts of apparent wind all the way until about 2300. If that isn’t an auspicious gift from the big man in the sea, I’m not sure what is! 

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However, I misspeak because yesterday, instead of a visit from Neptune, we were visited by two sea sirens who claimed to be his mistresses of mischief. They bore a stark resemblance to Phoebe and Mary though they claimed the pro crew had disappeared to go tend to something down below for the duration of the ceremony… strange timing.  At 1530, heralding the arrival of the sweet sweet relief of breeze, the crew of NORDIC FALKEN gathered on deck to publicly hear and confess to their sins, offer their sacrifices as retribution, and swear the blood oath to Neptune, thus committing their mortal souls to his service for eternity. Individually, each crew member was called forth to repent and each brave soul offered their sacrifices to Neptune’s mischievous messengers. The mer-maidens claimed that the ingenuity and effort put into each of the gifts was some of the finest craftsman ship they’d ever seen in their immortal life-spans. Emily gifted the assembly with a wonderful hula dance, Kip and Jim read poems, Steve presented a delightful original story about the origin of the equator ceremony, Ted presented amazing laser-cut tokens to commemorate the event as well as a hand-knit hat for the maiden who bore the closest resemblance to skipper Mary, Sarah regaled us with a marvelous story narrated with hand-crafted props, Mark read a love-letter to Neptune, Bruce presented a friend-ship bracelet made of Cheerios, and Joey absolutely shocked and thrilled us all with a hat for the Mary look-a-like made from pomelo husk that looked like Ogre ears. The mer-maiden affectionately called it her ”Shronkey” hat as the ears were quite donkey like. I have never seen her so satisfied with herself as she proudly donned her new pomelo hat for the remainder of the evening. Raucous laughter, the gleeful booing and cries of ”GUILTY”, and desperate pleas for forgiveness from the sinners were heard for miles around. The mer-maidens shrewdly weighed their pleas of forgiveness and considering the impressive work put into the gifts, agreed to induct the entire crew into Neptune’s most honourable court of Shellbacks. BUT! Not without first performing the blood oath and initiating their mythical transformation. The crew was required to drink the blood of the ocean (blue-tinted soda) to seal the blood oath to Neptune, the chalices of which contained a sea-worm (gummy worm candy) each representing the closure of their time as pollywogs. Then they ate turtle eggs (coagulated chia seeds) to initiate the shellbacks transformation. Then they each verbally swore fealty to his vastness Lord Neptune and finalised the ceremony by an offering of rum poured into his infinite waters. And thus the ceremony was complete! 

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And just like that the mer-maidens disappeared and Mary and Phoebe returned, shocked and disappointed to have missed the whole ceremony! However they bore delicious home-made Tiramisu to celebrate (that must have been what was keeping them so busy down below) and the whole crew enjoyed an absolutely delectable, lingering pastel sunset with all the colors, with a hearty meal of gnocchi and a unanimous glow of the whole day just feeling like one for the history books. 

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One thing that has been really amazing about this passage is the vastness of life experience and history that is covered by all the different ages and walks of life we’ve got onboard. The youngest onboard is at the ripe young age of 27, and the oldest is 82. We’ve all been remarking at how singular this kind of experience is in really erasing perceived differences or barriers to relatability, and how unifying this time together at sea has felt. We are all thankfully feeling so much better and the seasickness and sleep deprivation from the beginning of the passage has become a thing of the past. Happy hour and midday watches are jovial and brimming with energy and social connections. Life advice is being passed generously from one generation to the next in all directions. Stories being told of meeting loved ones for the first time and reflections on what’s most important in life are being throughly shared in the dark hours of the night. We’re really getting comfortable in that special glimmer of magic that takes place this far into a passage, where a group of eleven people that started as strangers are really beginning to feel like people we couldn’t imagine doing this without. Each individual person onboard brings such a unique and personal touch to the crew dynamic, all harmonising beautifully into the melody we’re all cherishing so much on board. Generally, we just want the folks back home and in the outside world to feel the warmth and camaraderie that were all relishing in while out here bobbing around on the big blue. Know that we’re bonding hard, and the closeness and teamwork onboard is really starting to take root in our salty sailor hearts! 

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As we make our faithful and steady progress North, the air on the boat feels changed fundamentally as we are all now seasoned equator crossers and nearing halfway through this incredible, life-changing passage!