It's 09:15 and the scenery outside is spectacular. The perfectly rounded sun is peeking out behind the horizon and you can clearly see its orange beams pointing through the clouds with the pale violet-blue sky as its background. Sam is steering and Liz is trimming. Annie and Eloide stand next to the pedestal ready to grind whenever it´s needed. I can hear them chit-chatting. Down below at the navigation station Libby and Carolijn are quietly discussing our present situation and future options. It´s one of those very peaceful moments on Team SCA.
It's times like this, with such a beautiful back-drop, that you can let you mind wonder, and you can really start to appreciate the unique situation we are in.
I should be both thirsty and hungry but I just can't seem to bring myself to contend with the balancing act in the galley, I would much rather sit down at the desk to write. Working is easy out here. It´s living without the simple things in life, things we take for granted on dry land like taking a short walk without falling over or having a steaming hot shower, that is the most difficult to live without.
The wind comes and goes, and with that the speed. With speed comes the heel. The boat is constantly moving. From time to time it hits a wave and - boom! It may press you down hard to the floor or throw you up high in the air. Whatever you do, and whatever you have in your hands, you need to secure yourself. The walking style we all adopt to stay upright reminds me of monkeys playing in a tree, though a little bit less agile. I was told before departure that off shore sailors lose a lot of their leg muscle out at sea and I now understand the reason. You can't grip with your feet, especially not with sailor boots, but a firm grab onto one of the special made holders in the ceiling makes gravity your friend.
Another thing most of us consider basic and definitely take for granted in our daily life on land is access to fresh water. We make our own fresh water on the boat and pay in fuel. Since we are racing we don't carry extra weight and the amount of fuel needed for the purpose is carefully estimated. Our fresh water is mainly for drinking and cooking. For other things like washing our hands or doing the dishes, we use water from the sea.
This means that keeping on top of our hygiene is all the more important. Thankfully, our sponsor SCA is a global hygiene company, so they have kitted us out with things like shower caps containing special dry shampoo that we can use wash our hair so we can conserve as much water as possible.
It makes you think about how easy it is to let the tap running without really thinking about what a luxury it is. The unlimited access of clean fresh water is probably one of the things I miss most out here. And with that said it´s time to pull myself together and make that evening tea!
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