Location: Underway
Today, we cross the one-third mark of our journey. It feels to me that we have been here longer, although it’s only been one month. To date, at the current time of 18:44, we have traveled 1,443 nautical miles and counting. We have toured Spain, France, Monaco, Italy, the Italian islands of Sardinia and Elba, the Spanish island of Mallorca, and today we are underway back to the Spanish mainland to Cartagena on our jog down the coast to Gibraltar to finish our tour of Mediterranean Europe. Certainly, this time has changed the perspective of Europe that I had only known. This past week, it began to strike me that I was missing something from home. As I stood bow watch with George through the mistral storm, cold and wet, we discussed what we missed and in what order we would go about compensating for that longing when we returned home. I suppose at sea, one can only ponder things missed from home for so long before it gets to oneself. So, for me, all this missing has done is made me appreciate what I have to return to back in Boston. Above me, as I lay in my small bunk, there is written, “At sea, a man learns how little he needs, not how much.” I haven’t the slightest clue who wrote this, but as each day passes, it rings truer and truer, and I can’t wait to see where this perspective takes me on day 90. Today was similar to most passage days: watch team cycles, lunch, class, and dinner. We also ran a man overboard drill, and I’m a part of the medical team along with the rest of my watch mates. To conclude, my experience as a skipper today is much different than my last, which was in Tarragona, Spain before we headed out to sea. I felt the responsibility today for sure.