Journals from the Atlantic - Part Two: CALM
Thanksgiving morning greeted us with a sea of glass. Not a ripple of wind in sight. Sails rolled up and engines on, we were finally headed east. To conserve diesel, we were alternating engines every three hours - port, starboard, port, starboard - and that became our new rhythm for several days to come. Though I usually am the first to turn the engines off and the last to turn them on, I found that I didn't mind the stillness after so many days of crashing around. We eagerly got out the hose and washed the boat, watching the sticky salt crust fall away back into the ocean. Once Bella was clean, it was our turn. We brought our soap and shampoo out to the deck to take showers off the stern. I can see why freshwater got its name - everything felt just so beautifully fresh! We cleaned the interior too, tidying up the salon and cabins to complete our clean reset.
It didn’t feel like Thanksgiving in any of the traditional ways, but I did feel waves of immense gratitude throughout the day. My mood seems to match that of the sea quite closely. Early on in the trip, when we had big wind and waves, I carried a fair bit of stress. Then the previous day’s shifty and uncooperative breeze had me easily agitated. And finally, the calm weather also calmed and cleared my mind. There was no decision-making happening today - the wind (or lack thereof) had done that for me.
All day, we glided over the soft swells, gently floating along. Arisa and I sat at the bow, reading and talking and trying to “call the dolphins.” They didn’t answer. Staring out at the vast blue of the ocean and the gradient of blues in the sky, there was not a complaint in my mind. In fact, my newly cleared mind seemed to have opened up space, not only for gratitude, but for creativity. I journaled more that day than I did the whole trip. I also got creative in the kitchen, baking bread for the first time on the boat, and making butternut squash mac and cheese. Arisa prepared cookie dough and my dad even caught a Thanksgiving fish! The bread came out quite nicely for baking it in an oven with a temperature dial I hadn’t quite mastered. After impatiently letting it cool a little, we found it to be perfectly crusty on the outside and soft and spongy on the inside.
Our Thanksgiving feast was complete with my fresh bread, the Thanksgiving fish, butternut mac and cheese, spinach and walnut salad, and chocolate chip cookies. We even set the table! It was very nice. And our autopilot was up at the helm doing a fine job as we ate! The funny thing about all this is that my parents experienced a similar situation one Thanksgiving, in the middle of the Pacific ocean. After days of rough seas, suddenly they were becalmed, and my mom was able to cook up a beautiful meal in the no-longer-tilted galley.
Up on watch that night, I continued in my creative flow. A word for word excerpt from my journal sums up why: “My brain seems to spit out words on paper very easily in this simple environment. You really couldn’t ask for a more distraction-free setting - I’m floating above 16,000 feet of water, over 200 miles from any land, with no other vessels in sight, and we have calm seas and a clear sky full of stars. It’s pretty great.”
The next day, our wind picked up just a little. It was enough to put up some sail, so we began our long stint of motor-sailing. We were still able to head east, which was very good. We needed to get as far east as possible in these calm seas before turning south again. The four days after Thanksgiving blurred together. It remained a reasonably light breeze, but we were sailing and still moving about 6 knots while alternating one engine at a time. Somewhere in there, I made another loaf of bread. It came out even better this time, with the addition of rosemary and garlic! We played lots of Rummikub.
I was beginning to count down the miles, doing the math to see when we would arrive. As we neared land, my brain booted back up into to-do list mode. I had a LOT to do when we got there. Between boat projects and setting up the business side of things, not to mention thoroughly exploring the areas where I would be captaining charters, a whole page in my notebook was quickly filled with checkboxes. I noticed a couple days later that Arisa had lovingly added a box for “take a breath,” which is advice I would strive to follow.
I was asleep when we first came into sight of land. After a tiring 3-6 am watch, I crashed for an early morning nap. Shortly after the sun rose, we had some land on the horizon. The Virgin Islands are quite mountainous, so we could see them from farther out than I’d expected. It took us until midday to reach St Thomas. The wind had picked up more and we were sailing along nicely. That morning was full of excitement and accomplishment. We were ready to be there; however, I knew that once we arrived, I would miss being out in the middle of the ocean and wish for those simple daily routines. The next 4-5 months would be a whole different life for me and I had no idea what to expect.
I almost forgot to mention one highlight of our light wind days - I jumped ship! My parents call it “aquaboy/girl.” You simply trail a line behind the boat, jump off the bow, and catch the line as the boat sails by! As long as you don’t get munched on by a shark, it’s a fun and refreshing way to stay entertained once in a while. This is a great little GoPro shot I got as I got pulled behind Bella. See Arisa waving :)
