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Athena of Southampton - Athena log 6 – Friday December 6th 2013



Athena log 6 – Friday December 6th 2013 – 13 58.17 N / 36 25.27 W

I know the world is round.  I’ve always known it.  I learnt it as a child.  There may be some flat-earth-theorists left but I’ve never been one.  I know the earth is round.  I sit on a small boat, on a vast ocean, with a full-circle view of water to an unbroken horizon.  The sensation of being atop a great sphere, rolling on an on, round and round, is stark and real.  It surprises and delights me. 

We make our way along this surface but it is unending.  The rolling seas and white-horse capped waves create an everchanging sameness, day after windblown day.  We pass our time in our boat, our capsule, our little home, in this great alien environment.  Protected within, we go about our daily routine.  It is as a little world, our world, our earth, floating around in a vast alien universe.  Cosy within, we are all right.  But we daren’t step off.  Outside, there is no sympathy for those who do not belong.  Inside we are safe.  

We travel for days and do not see a living soul, beyond our own shell.  During my watch, I constantly scan the horizon.  All around, as far as the eye can see, not a single sign of human life outside Athena.  This is the true wilderness.

Brian

PS

Philip asked me to extend further thanks for all the birthday messages relayed by Muirish (Ground Control – Dublin) from family and friends and from our sister ship Misfa now happily making way west after a brief pit stop in Mindelo, Cape Verde. We heard we’d given Misfa an excuse for a party last night in celebration of Philips birthday. If they need any further excuses for a party jus send us an email and we’ll oblige!

John



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