Where to Begin, so Much to Share - Blog by Sandy
Seven days at sea conjures up many images for people as they draw upon their personal experiences, television shows, movies or books. I knew this was not going to be a walk in the park, as it was an MS Challenge. I tried to prepare mentally and physically for this challenge, but even with the preparation I could not prevent having a wee bit of a melt-down.
By day seven, I found myself wanting to jump ship. I was tired of being jostled about like a bit of flotsam, acquiring bruises in the weirdest places, looking like the wreck of the HESPERIDES, and feeling like an outsider. I was tired of feeling ignorant as I could not speak Dansk, much less understand what was happening, as the sails were being set. I was even booted out of the kitchen, which made me feel even more excluded. So the hour arrived for me to do watch, which meant sitting for four hours like a lump in the cool dark night listening to others talk and sail the boat. I thought not again tonight, I shall just tell them I wasn't up to it.
I went seeking the name of the person to tell, and three different people looked at me like I was daft, which sent me over the edge. I went to my berth and my cabin mate offered to let me vent. This was very helpful, as I found out others shared some of the same expectations that I had of this journey. My cabin mate actually encouraged me to have a “girl night” and share my thoughts to the crew the next day. As I lay in my berth, and relaxed in the rocking of the waves, it became clearer that I was experiencing a touch of home sickness. I was missing the comradery of my friends at home, and unconditional love of Munchie and my family. It also became obvious to me, that while I was enjoying hearing about the loved ones of these fine men, I was feeling rather lonely not having a significant person in my life. How sad that I chose not to live fully by hiding behind my MS diagnosis. These men had chosen to go forward in their lives in all aspects. I had chosen to hide from relationships using my MS as a deal breaker. Ahh fear of rejection and failure, the two most crippling things a person can do to ones' self. Major discovery, I was being self-limiting by not speaking up.
The next day I shared with Bertram about wanting to be more involved as I was here to learn, observe and be a viable part of this team as we undertake this crossing. Do you know that only one person on this boat has ever sailed in the Pacific? Peter, served on a container ship previously. There are no road signs to follow nor gas stations to pull into for directions, we are absolutely 1500 miles from the nearest bit of land, in a very strong ocean. We are chasing the wind and trying to maintain a heading which Kristian our Captain has chosen to accomplish our goal. Bertram validated my feelings by sharing them with Kristian and Peter. The whole crew is now trying more to speak in English so that I understand what is being done at that time. I am having a wonderful time by participating in the sailing activities. I watched in total amazement the first time we raised the spinnaker. The next time I got to help along with six other crewmates. What an absolutely amazing feeling it is to see the spinnaker billowing out ahead of us. These men have such an incredible talent for making things look so easy, they lead this boat in a waltz upon the sea. It is very fluid. It is so appreciated, the crew has chipped in to helping me feel like I am part of the team. I am making contributions, however small, to the menu while in the galley. They even told me my potato salad was good. Doc Morten, even tried some salt on his watermelon at my suggestion. These little actions by them make me feel very much a part of the team. I shall never be a sailing star, nor possess the skill of these men, but they are offering me an opportunity to shine. Thank you, thank you, each of you for your help!
The absolutely most fantastic thing recently has been the setting our spinnaker today. To be able to participate in this team effort was awesome. There was much preparation to be done before this hoisting and setting the spinnaker which can be seen in some of our pictures. This is not a two person job. It took seven people. The Genoa needed to be furled up and the Spinnaker sheets needed to be kept outside of the Genoa, or everything would be fouled. Once the Genoa was taken care of, the boom for the spinnaker needed to be raised. Once it was raised up to a height of a quarter of our main, we hoisted the spinnaker in her sock, then dropped the sock to set her. What an awesome site to see her spread out and turn the area above us yellow and blue. How proud we all are of our beautiful Oceans of Hope. She is heavy steel and requires a lot of strength to lead as she dances on the sea with a particular grace.
Beauty-tip day 8-you can actually go 8 days without washing, drying or curling your hair. A daily spritz of seawater, a run through of your fingers in lieu of brushing, provides the basis of a Jennifer Anniston look. LOL!
Cooking tip-did you know that you can cook with seawater? We boil our pasta, rice and potatoes in sea water every day. No one has been sick at all. Of course, we are in the middle of the South Pacific and it averages two miles deep.
Missing and loving y'all,
Sandy