By Chris Haworth.
Blog Subjects today: Nature, Creation + Love (yes..I’ve been on along solitary night watch!)
Since yesterdays report things have been pretty stable – wind from the north 10/15 knots pretty steady all night circa 6 kts bt speed with 40% main and repaired Genoa – heading due west all night trying to stay in ‘fast lane’ (thin band of slightly stronger wind).
After yesterdays exertions (repairs etc) Jane decided we all deserved Rum Punch ‘sundowners’ at about 1900hrs (as we have moved west it is now getting dark 1.5 hrs later than when we left!) Dinner was Freshly caught fish 2 x 3.5 lb Dourada (expertly gutted and filleted by Fra) rice and fresh veg. followed by fresh pineapple fruit salad and cream + coffee.
Hoisted spinnaker at Sunrise this AM, now bearing away to head directly for St.Lucia, but playing shifts and going for speed – It is a beautiful day cloudless sky with a medium swell on our starboard ¼. We have just had fresh fruit and some beautiful dried dates and yogurt for breakfast, Fra is at the helm and Graham is in the cockpit receiving some tuition. Jane is giving it galley slave and I am back to being a geek... things are the way they should be!!
Last night I took over from Graham at 0130 with a view to doing at least 3 hours but intending to give Fra as long as poss resting as he worked hard on deck all day yesterday. The Sea was relatively calm, just the long atlantic swell and a gentle breeze, a beautiful clear sky and very starry night. The new moon has not yet risen so the celestial heavens were in their full glory – absolutely stunning and absorbing to gaze at. It is very easy to appreciate how sailors become so strongly attached to the environment, causes and issues effecting the Planet. Out here, in the middle of the ocean watching the stars slowly rise and move across the night sky, one feels at one with nature, wonderment at creation and a real sense of the universe and ‘mother’ Earth. I found myself questioning Humans beings role in all this and reflecting on the two beautiful fish we had caught killed and eaten earlier in the day. Some of you will know I have been through my vegetarian and quasi vegan stages, motivated mainly by concern for how we industrially ‘manufacture’ meat. For that reason I have never had an in principle objection to eating fish – on the basis they had an entirely natural life prior to being eaten! But seeing their exquisite colour and beauty in the water shortly prior to capture and death made me feel uncomfortable eating them! Do I need to kill beautiful creatures for food? ...Of course it’s OK they are not intelligent beings capable of communication and meaningful relationships like us humans!
And there it is the wonder and uniqueness of the Human being, our capability to rationalise, communicate, uniquely relate to, and love each other – ‘Love’ in all its amazing forms. So as I sit under the stars in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean I ponder what is the more amazing the physical existence of nature and creation or that thing called Love? Is Physical existence pretty meaningless(even worthless), without love? Perhaps they are related in another dimension? If we didn’t/couldn’t love would we be just like the fish? (just more intelligent) and therefore deserving of equal treatment - would we farm humans for food? Why not?
If the value of human existence is our highly(?) developed intelligence and more especially our ability to Love, why is it we allow tens of thousands of people in the world to die of starvation, live in appalling deprivation suffering and misery?.....Just another day in Paradise?
.......No answers just questions..... but really we should all resolve and work to do something about it!
I haven’t yet been to bed so I maybe beginning to lose it – I think I will go and join Graham to write some poetry!
As I return to Paradise Graham is now at the helm, Fra is busy doing repairs to all and sundry, Jane is doing some washing....things at sea are as they should be!
With love and best wishes from the crew of Nyaminyami.