03:20:6S 103:22:0W

 

The Marquesas

 

I’m not sure about being awaken by David on the SSB Radio. As I have mentioned they use some CB terms on the Pacific Magellan Net, but to hear David asking if they ‘Read or Copy That’ and then Rodgering their answers -  I know, it is school boy humour, but it  still makes me smile!

 

WD A Health Resort?

I have noticed that we are all losing weight. Talking it through, we think we are all eating everything we want and the food standard is high. But the constant movement and bracing one does, even on your bunk, must be toning and calorie burning. David tells me that we burn more energy in our brains as we are sending messages to our body to tense muscles, this may be instinctive but none the less 24/7 it consumes calories. Of course, we are a ‘dry boat’ while at sea, no doubt that has a positive effect. Whatever the reason, stomachs are becoming honed and belts pulled tighter and we are only a week into this three to four week passage. How fit will we look? Has Yachting Monthly done an article on this? Is the is there an algorithm to work out calories burnt, by wave height and length of yacht? Perhaps I should market this idea.

 

Ken’s Musings – The Spaces In Between

It is said that the mystic and spiritual world of the ancient Celts was based on the spaces in between objects and events as opposed to the objects and events themselves. Thus pre-dawn, late dusk and the shifts between the seasons were the focus of attention and mystical insight. We see this in their art as well. While we might look at their beautiful and expressive designs, focusing on the foreground, a Celt of the time would likely focus on the spaces and shadows in what we see as background. We see serpents inter-twining, vines and braches smoothly inter locking and the Celt sees the spaces created, the mystery held in that shadow or space.

 

So it seems with finding the magic and mysteries of sailing, passage sailing in particular. Prior to setting off and meeting with Steve and others, I had imagined a continuous, lengthy magical experience for crossing the Pacific. The reality is more a Celtic one. Passage sailing is filled with duties, activities, responsibilities, regimen and routine, i.e. a compressed version of many of our lives. As the passages have unfolded, and particularly the current passage across the Pacific, I’ve found, like the ancient Celts, that the magic, often intense, is experienced in the transitions, and the spaces found in between the routine and the duties. So, to share some of those moments: Coming out on deck at midnight to take your watch and being dazzled by the starlit sky, so intense you feel you are on the observation deck of the SS Enterprise; a gentle breeze with smooth sailing builds quickly to 20 then 25 knots, surging Wandering Dream forward her bow wave spraying water on either side, a particularly enjoyable moment of insight or humour shared in a conversation on deck between shifts and activities; a blue sky is suddenly filled with billowing clouds of cosmic proportions; stars, having shown so bright a moment ago are suddenly occluded by clouds that create a darkness that can only be described as total, generating an anticipation of a colossal downpour – which may never materialise; the vanilla sky caused by an eastern sunrise lighting towering clouds in the west creating through its reflection, a golden seascape – the list goes on. A long sail accentuates these moments, spaces and transitions and brings them into focus for those on the journey in a way that can only be described as magical – the purpose of Wandering Dream.

 

Miles travelled in the last 24hrs: 140miles