13.02 BOAT TIME | 07º 58.0’ S 103º 14.1’W
Sailing
Plan, go, learn, do. Why?
Mia prompted the group to provide the answer to why are we doing this trip?
From my perspective, we sail for ourselves. Not to impress anyone with dramatic story or photo. Not to run away, And certainly not for the creature comforts. We can only dream of air conditioning, ice and a comfy chair in the shade.
Are we here to visit a place we have only seen pictures of? Sure. To see wildlife, stars and miles of deep blue ocean? Maybe, but it goes deeper.
We are sailing to feel alive. To reconnect with ourselves. To simplify. To strip away everything we thought was necessary and get back to basics.
To be 100% in the moment. To be present at 3:00am, the time when all bad things happen, and the 65’ Nordic Falcon is clicking along at 10 Knots on a broad reach with a single reef in the main and the jib half furled. You can’t see beyond the mast as the sky and ocean are pitch black. The waives and swells are incessantly slamming against the hull, splashing and lifting the boat out of the troughs trying to knock you off course. Water crashes across the bow and occasionally into the cockpit to drench the helms-person from head to toe. Absolutely thrilling.
We are also here to slow down. Almost as if we put the whole world on a shelf. No news, no communication except between the 11 strangers on board. We are disconnected from the news, lost in our own space-time continuum of three hours on watch and six hours off watch. It all sounds so normal here.
We know the world will be there when we return, even if slightly changed. In the meantime we appreciate our families, friends, coworkers who are supporting our big adventure. We look forward to seeing you all soon.
But for this moment, we are here, eating, sleeping and sailing. Sunshine on our faces and the wind in our hair. Feeling Alive.
Love to all. Q
Quinn
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Seasickness
But maybe, I thought, with some drugs I could stay ahead of it. The first 48 hours I felt horrible. But luckily with 3 health care professionals on board and in a very encouraging environment, my body found its way. Anyway, someone offered me a patch (unavailable in Canada) and someone else gave me some pills for nausea and now I feel much, much better.
Dolphins and Bioluminescence
We had a good run with the sails but weather has changed and we are once again chasing the wind. Everyone is getting a chance to practice helming in big swell; starting to get a feel of the wind and water and how it pushes and pulls the hull. A pod of dolphins came to visit at night, splashing in the bioluminescent water, and again in the day, dancing in the bow wake. For now enjoying the calmer sea state and falling asleep to the rumble of the engine and the gentle whooshing of the water on the hull.
Greetings from Lala Lemonshark
The brave crew is toughing it out and staying cheerful despite being tossed around. The engine is off and we are true sailing-main and jib. In the first 12 hours we saw two pods of Orca and four humpback whales, two of which were 20 yards off the starboard beam!