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Endeavour of Cork - Day 13 - Laura



Day 13 - Laura

Do you ever find yourself in a situation and ask yourself "oh God what have I got myself into THIS time"? This has been the question on my mind since I first stepped onto Endeavour in Las Palmas on November 1st. See, it's not that I don't understand how incredible this whole journey is or how I'm constantly learning valuable life skills (patience being the main one when sharing 12 metres of space a thousand miles from land with your parents at age 16) but it's just that I'm not quite suited to this whole.... sailing thing.

There are many reasons why sailing may not be a future career path for me. Firstly, I, unlike my siblings, can't sail which may be because at age 7 I declared a hatred towards anything to do with sailing. Needless to say my parents were not impressed. Secondly, seasickness. I don't think I need to elaborate on that one. Thirdly, living on a boat can be hard if you don't eat fish, but I do appreciate Dermot's hard work even if it's in vain. And fourthly, the most important one, I have an undying fear of boats and the sea. Yes, someone who's sailing across the Atlantic Ocean is scared of boats and the sea.

It all started at age 4 when I decided to watch some TV only to end up watching 'Perfect Storm'. A few weeks later Silv, my favourite and only sister, watched The Titanic with me and from then on I find it hard to even look at a boat's hull without a shiver running up my spine. No matter how hard I try to teach myself that every boat in the world isn't out to kill me, I'm still not 100% comfortable. The sea is another enemy of mine (I only have the two and have no fears at all apart from them. Heights is even one of my favourite things unlike my dad but he does try his best to climb up onto a rock or two on holidays to jump in, even if he doesn't quite reach the jump in part). The vulnerability in the sea freaks me out but I try not to let it stop me. A few days ago I even jumped into the middle of the Atlantic armed with shampoo and shower gel. Anything for a shower though, even if it was with Jaws.

So now you understand why I seem so keen to reach land in the blogs, I'm not just a grumpy teen who would rather be at home with friends than in the middle of an ocean with my parents.... although that is another contributing factor... but if it wasn't I wouldn't be a normal 16 year old would I?

I've stopped having what I call "Laura's Daily Breakdown" where I realise this is my life for the next few weeks and stop talking to the other 5 crew members because we're so close to land now that I can nearly feel the air con in Saint Lucia already.

I really hope I don't come across as ungrateful or moody in this blog because I really am grateful and I know that it's a once in a lifetime experience and all that but I decided to be as honest as I could so that people realise that there's more to physically sailing across this ocean, the hardest part is your mental attitude towards it (my mom has been crew counsellor on board and has given us all more motivation that any Irish rugby coach ever could). Every single one of us have struggled at some point on this trip to remain sane whether it was listening to the constant rattle of the engine every night and feeling ridiclous heat that it emits (as if we weren't hot enough) or maybe when we were struggling to remain in our chairs with the boat surfing over 18 foot waves on the way from Las Palmas to Cape Verde. My point is, don't be fooled by our tremendously well written blog (thanks Mairéad) which does mention all our problems as a team but it would be impossible to mention all our individual problems or else Mairéad would win an award for Therapist of the Year (or else need to see one). This trip has been the hardest thing a lot of us has ever and will ever do but we all know it's worth it when we get to the otherside; especially when we see the wifi connection symbol for the first time in weeks on our phones... or that might just be me.

We'll all be very excited to see land, even more excited than we were seeing that ship, if that's even possible, and we all seem to agree that the air con and showers will be all but attacked once we reach land. Don't be surprised if you find my mom still in the showers by Christmas either, not a day goes by without her mentioning how excited she is to be clean. I think we all feel the same way at this stage though. So special thanks to my parents, Anais, Mairéad and Dermot for putting up with me for the last month and I'll to be as positive as I can for the final few days as I always am, even if I don't show it.

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