Day 6
Drawing the parallels! Life at sea.
Well, for me and five of my fellow crew this is our first crossing of an ocean and by far the longest passage, ever. I thought it was time to draw some parallels with life ashore, now that I'm moderately qualified to make
some comparison, here goes:
Food. After the fine resturaunts of las Palmas we now only eat from bowls in our laps, sometimes in the rain! Quality is good and tasty everyone is actively encouraged to participate which I thought was nice until they
started photographing everything I made, apparatly to Aid diagnosis !! Cooking is scarily dangerous and should be avoided at all costs when ashore, I think that's why they invented restaurants.
Sleeping: ashore this is a very routine occurance, conducted on an expansive comfortable surface, at sea, things are different. I have taken to sleeping on a shelf, when I have performed a very elaborate gymnastic mount, I am wedged in with a number of cloths, strings and cushions to prevent chaffing! (we have all learnt, chaffing is the enemy) Once in bed, hold on tight as you are subjected to a ride in a automatic washing machine! After a completeley insufficient amount of time you are gently woken by a crew mate shining a torch in your face, shouting your name and generally encouraging you to replace them on deck as its raining! At this point having dismantled your restraint a gymnastic dismount from the shelf is required, this is still being refined as I often fall when landing on a moving floor. To aid rehabilitation I am considering adding a shelf to my Christmas list so I can continue my sailing experiences through the dark January days back in the uk.
Entertainment. Ashore this is varied and expensive pastime, I have sought to replace this afloat by selling tickets to my daily dolphin shows, these have had mixed feedback, with anything from zero to many dolphins performing on a daily basis at 4pm. I think this is a sustainable business opportunity which I will continue to develop, sorry didn't mean to use that word, business. Wash my mouth out!
Leadership & management. In the interests of self preservation and staving off a mutiny I am going to save this one for a later blog!....
Until next time, all on the good ship skyelark. (Stephen)