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Selkie - Leg 2: Day 6



We are moving. We have finally gotten far enough north that we have picked up the wind. It only blows at 13 knots, but that moves us at a steady 6 knots, down wind, wing to wing, with following seas. We don’t mind being at the end of the pack. We worry about if we will make it in time to participate in all the ARC events, because that probably is not going to happen, but we have to think safety first for our children. We’ve noticed that others have used their motors where we barely did. We moved at 2-4 knots for days. 6 knots feels like a speed train. Nick says, “We are finally putting miles down, clicking ‘em off. It is a moment to truly celebrate.” 

My time to write is usually during my night shift, which is 2-6 in the morning. That’s why I always update on the night sky. There are stars tonight, but because it’s cloudy, it’s like someone has taken an eraser and deleted parts of the galaxy. Last night was the darkest night that I have ever seen. I thought there was something wrong with my eyes. It was like we were bobbing and sailing under a heavy black blanket. Tonight feels freed. 

I was really grumpy yesterday. Two more weeks of this seems crazy. My personality fights with two extremes: one, this is beautiful with endless magical seas; two, how can there be so much water! I need this experience though. It is giving me so much perspective. None of us in our busy take-our-kids-to-school and go-to-work days know what our planet is really like — endless amounts of undiscovered water, endless! The fact that an airplane can cover this in 8 hours gives humans too far a distance from the reality of the expansiveness of the ocean. Traveling by boat, you truly earn your right to be overseas. I think of all the massive, crowded boats that carried passengers to the new world. I think about the slave ships. I think about scared children without their parents. I think about them not being able to predict storms or view the weather. I think about the massive amount of risks these travelers took and how they put their trust into a captain that they had probably never met. The ocean is huge. I am in the middle of it, so far from the “world” but closer to the earth than ever before. Step by step, wave by wave, we will hopefully cross her safely.

Maggie, the First Mate


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