46:21.189N 007:50.133W
SV Eleonora
Michael A. Andronov
Wed 25 Jul 2018 23:59
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UTC 2358
We have sailed 4239.5 nm from Antigua, so far...
including 250 nm from Falmouth... and we have another ~250 nm to
go...
( To go -- I'm measuring to the point somewhere off
the shore of Spain, with a couple tens of miles to go into particular
bay/harbour... ).
On this leg -- there is no particular destination,
there is no ETA on demand, there is neither 'pulling force' from the places
ahead, nor 'pushing force' from behind... We are just
sailing!
Well... I've re-read above and have to correct
myself... Yes, there are firiends on boat, who are probobably
somewhere at Spain Atlantic coast, in one of the bays... And I'm looking
forward to overlap with them, and to discuss our stories... Seems like it is
becoming a tradition -- BVI, Caribbean,
Azores... I'm looking forward for that, really!
But that is the future. And today -- if
computer is right -- is July 25th, and we are sailng along the Bay
of Biscay towards Spain.
Sailing... Interesting word... We have from
1.x to 3 knts of breeze, coming from all directions... And one of the main
tasks of the day -- to keep the boat moving in those conditions...
If the boat speed goes below about 1.2 kts -- the autopilot starts to
complain... and I have no choice but to run the motor... ( We are still
within shipping traffic -- though there is no official transport separation
shema ).. and I have to obey the rules of the road...
For a moment, imagine going in the
sailing vessel on the lake, with the basically no wind, with the speed of
1.3 kts... You need patience! I found the Ocean to be very
different. Somehow, you still have the feeling of movement... May be
because everything is moving anyway? Or because the swell under the boat
is producing the effect of the movment? Or, may be because there is
no reference points around ? ( Actually, there are -- clouds,
waves, and ships... But all of them are in the constant movement... So,
you have the illusion that you are progressing! And you better keep
that illusion. For sanity! But do not stop completely, since
you still need steerage, especially being close to the other ships...
;-)).
So, there have been multiple exercises today:
-- trimming the boat in light air... I
guess I dropped that quickly since the goal should be re-evaluated and
clarified...
-- Do not get under big ship... As long as
I'm keeping consistent course and the AIS is working -- it seems to be no
brainer, no problem!
-- keep yourself busy! And that where
the fun has started!
First, about the visitors. Is
Wednesday is the visitor day in that part of the Ocean ? No idea.
But...
Since we were moving slow, I decided to put the
lines... meaning fishing... As soon as it has been done... I've seen a
couple of fishes, about mile abeam, to jump out of the water... I have
seen tuna hunting before, when she jumps out of the water in a straight
line towards the fluke of the fish...
When I saw the fish jumped out of the water
today... I decided to remove my lines from the water... No, I
cannot catch THAT fish with my lines... But what if I manage to
upset them somehow? My boat would be a toy
for them...
Then the dolphins arrived... Actually,
not dolphins but kind of dolphins... Biggerl, stronger...
They came to the boat, swimmed around... came to the bow, came
to the stern... and disappeared, obviously disappointed... Well, what
can I do? Yes, at a speed of 1.7 kts -- it is a bit naive to
expect the bow wave, produced by the boats... And if they
were looking for some kind of wave, generatied by tankers around, at 17-20 kts
of speed... Sorry, we cannot do that anyway...
And then the whale arrived... What a
magnificient creature!!! She was
going around for good 20 minutes... I should confess -- all that time I've been
sitting in the cockpit, with my jar dropped down, and as a small kid was
asking -- again, again, again... Please, show up again, please...
And then the visitors gone, leaving the day
kind of 'bussiness as usual'... I was looking around on the shipps passing
by...
The 'visitors' brought back an old thought...
If one can treat our planet as the System, with the purpose of maintaining
life... what are we, humans, are doing there ?! All those fish, dolphing,
whales... They do represent the life, evolution... Yes, their life -- is
not easy by any lmean... But they managed to maintain it, and they are
kipping to improve / to change it based on conditions changed... And
they are still there... And they are doing it, without too
much deviation from the old basic principles...
In comparison, we -- humans -- are not
looking so good, or should I say -- look different? What are
all those ships around doing? What is all that cargo about?
Do we really need it? Or many, many years
ago evolution made kind of mistake, and we are by-product of it ?
Look on all those creatures around ... They managed well without Economy, Politicts, Good News, Bad News, Fake News, Internet and Google, Facebook... But can we today? Yes, I hear welll... The person on land is
saying that my thought is too simple, too naive, to
childish... But I'm ready to bet that if I put that person on
the boat, in the Ocean from horizon to horizon, show him all that life... and
then -- after sometime, brought him back on land, either UK, or Frace, or
Spain... does not matter... He would at least think the
same direction once... Do we really need to be proud
of Economy, Global trade, Global and Local Politics, etc
? Did we somehow manage to wash the baby with the watear -- I mean --
Love, Compassion, just Life ? Or the new, modern -- NeoLife On Land --
is something different by nature?
Ops... I have to stop myself here... Do I
start to sound like Bernard Moitesseir in his 'The Long Way'? Not
good, need to find some medicine against it!
But otherwise, we are fine, and keep going...
Gaining mile by mile, slowly!
Talk soon,
M.
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