No one accomplishes anything alone - Blog by Mara
Greetings from.. well, uh, somewhere in the middle of the ocean! Aside from an initial brutal bout of seasickness, it has been an incredible trip. I am happy to report that I have left the seasickness behind me when we departed the beautiful, tropical Tonga. Thankfully, I did not have to bare that sickness alone. How quickly everyone on this trip learned to communicate and work together despite being from all over the world is a true testament to how much this trip means to everyone here. No one hesitates to help out and do their part. The mission of Sailing Sclerosis has built an impressive sense of camaraderie and purpose within this group, that I hope will be felt by everyone following the journey.
To my friends and family: What is true on this boat is true back at home – no one accomplishes anything alone. I would not be on this amazing adventure be it not for the love and support I have received from all of you over the years. Much love to all of you and I miss you. I would also like to note that everyone here is barefoot ALL THE TIME. Thankfully and finally I can proudly announce that I have gotten over my fear of feet. Don't expect a footrub or anything, you're getting ahead of yourselves.
While I am in the business of thanking, I would like to thank MS. This is not to say that I am glad to have MS, but I cannot change it, and it led me to where I am today and to be who I am today. Without it, I would not be here forming these relationships and doing something as cool as sailing from Samoa to New Zealand. I also thank MS for taking away that 'invincible' feeling of adolescence. Not only did it keep me out of trouble, but it made me appreciate what a gift each day is. Thank you, MS, for making my life unpredictable. This unpredictability has pushed me to fearlessly pursue my dreams and goals while I can and make every second count. Finally, I thank MS for showing me how much the lens through which I view the world matters. For a long time, I approached the world from an angle of anger and fear. I resented that which I could not do and deeply feared the future. Fear, resentment, anger and all that junk do nothing but work against you. It's hard to truly appreciate the good things when there's nothing bad to compare it to. MS showed me that I cannot find the silver lining if every day is a sunny one. Things are gonna be cloudy sometimes, and that's okay. I learned that no matter how dark the skies or heavy the rain, it is so important to never forget that the sun is always just behind the clouds, even when you can't see it.
Lastly a shoutout to my professors at Normandale (Barni, Raasch) who were AWESOME enough to let me finish the semester early to come on this trip, and a shoutout to Ms. Britton's class at Cooper!
Report from Bosun Bertram
Wind has finally found us! A couple of days worth of mere motoring south on the Pacific has finally been replaced by the blue ocean sailing we know. 12 knots out of the south west is giving us head winds tacking our way down there. We expect it to turn south, then south east and finally east over the next day giving us perfect conditions to race the final stretch into Auckland.
Local time onboard is 18:00 and our current position is 29,6.57S , 177,40.67W