Location: 25*04.067'N 020*16.565'W
I don’t know where I am, all I know is that I must go to watch. What we are watching, im not sure of either. For most on Vela, this is a daily routine of thought. When woken up for watch, it feels as if we’ve been awake all along, but the recollection of where we are and how we got here evades our minds. Whether it’s the rocking of the boat while trying to sleep or having to shuffle through the dark on said rocking boat during the ungodly hours of the night, most find themselves in a constant state of sleep deprivation. Today I forgot I was skipper until we were all sitting down for lunch when I looked up and realized everyone was sitting in silence waiting for the skipper to start the count off. Good thing the day’s work was easy, though, resulting in a rather uneventful day of skippering, which is becoming more and more common as the days blend together. Today marks the second day of our transatlantic crossing, but I have a feeling it is going to be day 17 before we know it. Staying awake during watch is hard, but we are able to keep each other up by making up ghost stories, playing contact, exercising, and once we get bored of those, doing our job.
Classes are going well, and it seems like some people may even be enjoying them. I take particular joy in writing up fish IDs in my bound notebook that would otherwise see no use, as I find myself lacking time to actually journal. Additionally, I find the navmaster course of seamanship very interesting and always have fun operating the charts. I have no more to say about classes, so instead, I will mention that even before I ran out of snacks for the crossing on day 1, I was in agreement that we should consider eating Joe, if worst comes to worst, mostly because I worry they will soon realize that there are individuals of similar size and nutritional value which are not as helpful or integral to the crew. (Such as myself).
I am looking forward to the rest of the crossing and learning more about the ocean and sailing in our classes. Enjoy the pictures that I have scrounged up for the day as I once again forgot to take any.
That is all I have to say for now. Hello to friends and family reading this blog!
Photo 1: Dani, Liz, and Arden with a beautiful sunset
Photo 2: Kendra, Grace, and Sam on the stern
Photo 3: Me (James) on the helm