Oceano - Log Day 7 - Meeting the locals

For some sailors being on the sea equals fishing. Or at least - trying it. It has never been the case for me, as I am always cheering for the fish to escape the lures of this murderous sport. Some of „Oceano’s” crew decided that if we have fishing rods on board - it would be a waste not to catch a dinner. They’ve never fished in their life though and their search for the right fishing rod lasted for half an hour with more then a few pauses for the sip of beer and exchanging equally ignorant remarks. Finally they appeared in the rear and assumed the position. The others waited, cracking jokes about their childish enthusiasm. After a while everyone retreated to what they were doing before and we forgot about the pair of freshmen. But suddenly we’ve heard a shout - we’ve got something, guys! It’s big!

Everyone rushed to them, taking their phones and cameras, waiting for the unfortunate creature to emerge from the waves. But nothing was happening. The tension started to drop, onlookers got bored. One person noticed that the spinning wheel of the rod was not working. With a slight embarrassment the enthusiastic pair adjusted it to work properly. Now it was really rolling. They have really done it! Is it a mahi mahi? Or maybe even a tuna? Everyone expected a sight to see, as the size of the bait selected was significant. One…two…three..and we saw this beautiful bait glimmering but fish no fish holding on to it. It was just the speed of the boat that prevented the wannabe fisherman for a while from rolling the bait up. We were all laughing, collectively relived that no life was sacrificed and the comedic value of the scene was of utmost quality. We decided to fish for the fish only with our eyes from now on. The encounter with another creature is the a nourishing enough experience.

While sailing to the Caribbean, everyone is scanning the sea in search of a sighting of a permanent resident of Atlantic waters - a dolphin, a whale, a flying fish, a seagull or swallow, anything would do. We are moving through a blue wilderness after all. So far at „Oceano” we’ve had little luck - dolphins, a few of them, visited only at night, their slender bodies appeared for split seconds in the navigation lights, eerie like ocean ghosts. We’ve had some flying fish visiting the deck and we were trying to uninvite them as fast as we could back into the water so they can survive this suicidal greeting. I like these fat butterflies of the sea, as they glisten in the sun, day after day of our voyage.

There is something really precious about meeting an animal or a fish in the middle of the ocean. It is somewhat miraculous to meet on your ways in this watery abyss and that makes it truly magical, like the animal has chosen us, like it was on purpose. We call it a blessing, we call it luck, we are giggling like little kids, so happy to see a being not of our own, which decided to approach our kind without fear but with curiosity and even joy. When I looked at my friends - many times, when I’ve heard myself talking sweetest gibberish while meeting a dolphin, pilot whale, a seal, a shark, I’ve always been thinking about how wonderful the world would be if we’d only greet every species in mutual respect and understanding. After all we share this residency together. Being out of the blue usually - we forget about that. Being back into it we realize that this connection is missed by us, craved and deeply moving.

I was crying my eyes out in the water in Tobago Cays some years ago, swimming after a turtle, completely enthralled, like I was taken out of time and body, just hanging in the water, reduced to examining it’s gentle features, the structure of the shell. Everything was silent and I heard my own heart beat like a drum. I swam further, reached the reef at the other side of island. Colorful fish surrounded me as I headed towards the shore. I lied down on a beach, exhausted, feeling like a newborn, my head spinning with joy. It is always worth to cross the Atlantic for that.

Karolina